If Only
by Mari Falcon
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke stumble across a strange object in the woods. It lets out a sudden burst of power and Naruto is knocked unconscious. He wakes up to find everything is wrong. Is it genjutsu? A concussion? Hallucinations? Or something else?
1. Prologue

**If Only **

by Mari Falcon

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (it applies to all chapters).

Prologue

Uzumaki Naruto sprinted along the mountainside, legs and arms pumping madly, chakra holding him at an angle parallel to the ground. By now, his breath was huffing and his face was red; he'd unzipped and tossed off his black and orange jacket an hour ago. He flew over Tsunade's face, then the Yondaime's nose, Old Man Hokage's beard, and the First and Second's eyeballs, which, as far as he could tell, didn't have pupils. _Why was that_?

"Alright," he wheezed. _One more to go,_ he thought, unable to find the breath to talk.

Five minutes later, the blond Chuunin flopped down on top of the head of the Godaime.

"Why?" he panted. "Why did I let Lee talk me into this?"

"Cause you're a loser."

Naruto tried to jump up and pummel Sasuke, but all he managed was a half sit-up before collapsing back down. "Who asked you?" he demanded, putting as much anger into the question as possible between gasps.

"I thought you just did." He lowered himself onto the ground next to Naruto and appraised his friend/enemy with a skeptical eye. "You look like crap," he commented and dumped a canteen of water on him.

"Aauggh!" _Ahhhhhh._In truth, it felt so good. But because it was Sasuke doing the pouring, he had to pretend he hated it.

Sasuke snorted once and took a swig from another canteen. He hauled the fellow teen up to a sitting position and shoved the water at him. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Like I'd take water from you."

"Tsunade's orders." He offered the canteen again. "She says if I don't make you drink, she'll skin you."

"Me?!" Naruto exclaimed, outraged. "Why me? Shouldn't she skin you?"

". . ."

Naruto snarled. "Sasuke. . ." But took the canteen and drank from it. Then he dumped the rest over his head.

"You're getting me wet," the black-haired teenager snapped, shifting several inches away.

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the sun set and the shadows lengthen over Konoha. Their sharp ears could pick up the sounds of life below. Mothers calling their children in, overworked husbands stumbling home, shops closing down as the village prepared for night. It was peaceful, Naruto knew, to simply sit here and watch the world go to sleep. He sidled a glance at his friend.

Sasuke sat, staring straight ahead. He still had the same black hair going slightly up in the back, the same smirk-prone mouth and the same sharp eyebrows. There was a thin scar under his chin, leftover from the fight with Itachi. Naruto tried hard to force the image of a broken and bleeding Sasuke out of his mind. He knew that losing to his older brother _again_ hurt the avenger, and not just physically. Right now, Sasuke was still mostly healing from the near-fatal fight, but Naruto worried that he'd be out of the village once his body would allow it.

Tsunade had probably sent Sasuke out of the hospital with specific orders to find Naruto and several ANBU tailing him. She didn't trust Sasuke, but hoped Naruto would be able to do something to help him. _Because I did so much last time._

"Sasuke. . ."

By the silence, Naruto knew he was listening. Sasuke had different kinds of silences; if you listened close enough, you could tell which one. The blonde bit his lip. Should he ask? Would Sasuke answer?

"Well?"

_How can I help?_

"Do you have any more water?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled another canteen out of his pack. Naruto unscrewed the top, took a sip. He waited, waited. Now!

In one smooth motion, when Sasuke wasn't looking, Naruto dumped the bottle over his head and jumped to his feet-successfully this time. Sasuke's bellow of rage following him, Naruto sprinted away, his legs already back to full power.

"Loser!" Sasuke shouted as he chased him. "If you don't want to be followed, _quit laughing!"_

Naruto only laughed more maniacally at this. He shot a look over his shoulder to see the Uchiha catching up quickly. He lengthened his stride and—

--fell flat on his face?!

He heard Sasuke's snicker as he pushed himself up to his hands and knees. "Shut up!" Naruto roared, raring to fight.

Suddenly, the smirk faded from Sasuke's face. He held up his hand, signaling Naruto to silence. In the dimming light, Naruto saw the red of Sasuke's Sharingan.

He opened his mouth to ask, but quickly snapped it shut. Sasuke was staring intently at a square of dirt-right around where Naruto had tripped. Smoothly, the blonde moved to a crouch position across from his friend. He waited, scanning the trees with his eyes and chakra to detect any traps.

"There's something here," Sasuke murmured, moving his hand in a vaguely box-like shape.

Assuming it was safe to speak now, "Is it what I tripped over?"

"You mean other than your own feet," Sasuke snapped. "Yes."

"What can you see?"

Sasuke's lips pursed. "Nothing, actually."

"Nothing?!"

The other teen sneered. "Are you deaf? I can't see anything, but I can sense the power right about here." He moved his hands in a vaguely box shape in the air.

"Here," Naruto offered. "Let me try. My senses are sharper than yours."

Sasuke backed off, making room for Naruto.

Naruto stretched his hands out to the area Sasuke had indicated. Right away, he could feel the power flowing off it.

"Whoa." _This thing, whatever it is, has got a lot of power coming off it. How could I not sense it before I tripped over it?_

Carefully, he channeled a little bit of chakra into his hands and reached again for the whatever. Instantly, the thing's output increased. Naruto pulled back, or tried to.

"Naruto?"

He shook his head. "I tried probing it with my chakra, but now I can't pull back. It's like-" He shifted his legs and tried again. "I'm glued to it through chakra or something."

"Then cut your chakra."

Naruto snarled. "You don't think that's the first thing I tried?"

"Hn."

"No, duh."

Sasuke shot him an annoyed look, the kind only Sasuke could shoot. He focused on the thing again with his Sharingan. "Wait a minute. This is worse than I thought. Now you're starting to fade too. It's like the thing is pulling you somewhere."

_Oh, crap_. Naruto tried again to pull away, putting all of his formidable strength into pulling himself away. Unfortunately, this rather backfired as his foot slipped on a loose pebble and skidded forward to connect, solidly, with the thing.

He felt a surge of power into his hands and foot from the thing. He tried to push back, but it was too much. The wave traveled up, through his limbs into his torso and finally into his head. The last thing he heard was . . .

"Naruto!"


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Where am I?

"Naruto!"

_U__g__h,_ Naruto thought. He rolled over and tried to block out the voice. It was probably somebody trying to get him up for something. He could just hear Sasuke's _No, really _at that last thought. Wait a minute, Sasuke--

"Naruto!"

Something heavy and hard landed on him. The breath left his body in a _whoosh_. The whatever on his chest began to bounce up and down enthusiastically. _Ugh, Unh, Uh_, Naruto thought in time to the bouncing. Finally, he just reached up and grabbed the thing when it was above him. He pried one eye open.

"Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!"

He saw above him a little boy of about seven, with spiky blonde hair and green eyes. The bouncy ball was grinning madly, eyes alight with . . . something. _Who is this?_

"Whuh?" Naruto muttered, still suspending the child in the air.

The kid grinned even wider. "C'mon, you promised!" He swung his arms and legs. "Time to train!"

"Huh?" _Train?_

Big green eyes rolled dramatically. "Last night, you said you'd take me training with you today!" His lips formed into a pout and he pointed an accusing finger at him. "You promised, niisan."

_Niisan?_

Slowly, his mind began to clear. He sat up, holding the boy away from him and set the kid on the floor. _This isn't my apartment._ The walls were a combination of royal blue and bright orange. _Nice decorating. I really like it_. There was a dark wood dresser on the opposite side of the room and a hanging cabinet full of weapons. To his left there was a nightstand, and on that nightstand were . . . _pictures?_

"Niisan?" the kid was now looking at him carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Uh . . . yeah," Naruto answered. "You just woke me up suddenly. Give me a minute, okay?" _Anything to buy some time so I can figure this out._"Why don't you go downstairs and get ready?"

The kid grinned brightly again. "Okay!" He sprinted out of the room.

Naruto watched him go, then quickly closed the door. He rolled his shoulders. Something wasn't right inside; he didn't feel normal and not just because he'd woken up in a strange place. The blonde shook it off, crossed to the nightstand and inspected the pictures. The first one he picked up looked like a Gennin team picture. _This isn't my team, but I'm in it. What? _He was in the middle, looking like he did when he was twelve. On his right was Kiba, with Akamaru on his head and on his left was a green-haired boy he'd never seen before. Standing above them, like Kakashi was in his picture, was a dark haired man that again, Naruto didn't know.

There were three other pictures on the stand. One was of a very, very old man. He was smiling the kind of smile only old people can smile, one of patience, wisdom and more than a little mischief. Naruto looked closely at his eyes. _Woah.__ They're like my eyes. _Naruto had spent a lot of time looking at his own eyes when he was young, wondering if there was something in them that made him unlovable, so he knew what his eyes looked like. _Same shape, same rings of dark and bright blue. _He stared at it a second more. _That's weird. _

The other picture was of three kids, obviously siblings, grouped together. The oldest was a girl, about sixteen in the picture, with soft golden hair, more blonde than yellow, and emerald green eyes. _Just like the hyperactive bouncy ball a minute ago._ The second kid was a boy of probably ten, who had the same color hair, except it went up in spikes. His eyes were blue. _Again, just like mine. __Creepier and creepier._The last kid was . . . Hey! It _was _the Manic Midget that had attacked him. _Why do I have a picture of these three on my nightstand? _

He moved to the last picture. It was of a man and a woman, obviously in love. The man was in the process of swinging the woman in a circle, so her feet were off the ground and they were both laughing into the camera. The woman, _Wow, she's beautiful._ Naruto thought. _She looks just like the girl in the other picture. _He scooped it up and compared the two. _Yep, definitely mother and daughter. _The man was . . . familiar. Naruto brought the picture closer and squinted at it. Hmmm. Where had he seen that face before? He stared for a couple more seconds. Nothing. _Maybe I've seen him when he's serious. _The blonde rearranged the man's features so they were scowling instead of smiling and—

_The Fourth Hokage?!?!_

He looked closely. _Yep. That's him alright. Believe it. But why would I have a picture of the fourth in my room? Wait a minute! What if this isn't my room? What if-?_

He could almost hear Sakura's voice in his head. _Naruto, before you do anything stupid, you need to know as much as possible about the situation. Get knowledge. _

He closed his eyes. _Thank you, Sakura. _Okay, first step? He glanced down, noting the boxers and T-shirt. Get dressed. He quickly crossed to the dresser and began rummaging through it. _Nope, not in this drawer._He moved down. _This one, either._ The last drawer. _Gaahh! Where is it? _He ran through the drawers again, looking for his favorite black and orange outfit, but again, nothing!

"Naruto! What's taking you so long?" It was the kid again.

"Uhh." _Oh, crap, crap, crap. What should I say?_ "Its, ah, part of the training. A ninja must be patient," he answered, borrowing one of Kakashi's favorite lines. _You're one to talk, Naruto._

"Oh," the kid answered, making the word about five syllables long. "Okay. Got it."

Naruto grabbed the first clothes he found, which happened to be black pants and a bright blue sleeveless shirt that matched the walls. He dragged his sandals on and filled his pack with kunais and shurikens. Finally, he tied his headband on his forehead and reached for his necklace. _My necklace! Where is it? _

The blonde tore up the room before remembering where he was. _Okay, maybe wherever I am, I don't have it. _

"Naruto!"

Naruto grimaced and rubbed his neck. It felt weird without Granny Tsunade's necklace, but he'd have to make do for now. _When I get home, I'm never taking it off_, he swore.

"Good job," he congratulated, opening the door. "You're first mission was a success." Naruto gave him the thumbs-up sign.

The kid returned it. _Okay, Sakura, here I go._ "Now," he continued, crouching to the midget's level. _Geez, was I ever this short?_ "A ninja must always be able to give a good report to his Hokage. So, for practice, I want you to tell me everything you can about the people that live in this house and draw me a map of it."

Manic Midget scrunched up his face. "This is dumb. You said you'd teach me to throw a kunai," he complained. "If you don't, I'll tell Dad."

_Dad?__Dad?!__ No, no, focus,_ Naruto berated himself. "I will, but you have to do this first, okay? Like I said, a ninja who can't give good reports can put his teammates in danger." _And I _need _this information. _

The kid sighed heavily, as though a great burden was being put on him. "Alright, but only if you'll still teach me throwing later."

"I said I would, right?" Naruto grinned and gave the Midget the "nice guy" pose. "I never go back on my word. That's my nindo, my ninja way."

Midget rolled his eyes. "Okay. Come on." He led Naruto through the house, down a flight of stairs, to what amounted to a living room. He sat down and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Okay." With his tongue tucked between his teeth, he set the pen on the paper. Slowly, he drew a sketch of the house, with a first, second and third floor.

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "You always start with the guy the highest up. Okay?"

"Right," Midget answered. "The highest up would be Daddy." In the section for the third floor, the kid wrote the words _Namikaze__Minato_. _Hmm, must be the Fourth Hokage. _"He's the Fourth Hokage, the most powerful ninja in the village. Next is Mommy. Namikaze Meara." Carefully he inscribed the name next to Minato's. _Meara?__ That's not a normal name._ "She's from the Churaeah clan in the mountains."

Naruto held up a hand. "Hold up. Expand on that a little bit more."

The kid scowled, but complied. "Well, Mommy's family is a clan in the mountains. They've lived there longer than Konoha has been here. They even have a different language from us. That's why their name is so different. Daddy says that 'Churaeah' translated into our language is 'Uzumaki.'" The kid smiled up at Naruto. "That's where your middle name came from."

"Uh . . . huh." _Whaaat?__ Okay, Naruto, okay, calm down. Think about it later. If this is a trap, you can't let on. Stay calm. _"Good job so far. Keep going."

The kid moved to the second floor. "I guess you would be the most powerful next." He scribbled the name _Namikaze__ Naruto. _"You're the best Chuunin in the village and Dad says you might be nominated for Jounin in another year or so." He grinned up at Naruto.

_Me? __The best Chuunin?__ Nominated for Jounin? __Really?__ Alright! I guess wherever I am everybody realizes how great I am. Take that, Sasuke. _

"Then, there's Namikaze Tama. She's your twin sister. She's a medic nin, and a Healer, like Mommy. She's learning the secrets of the Churaeah clan."

Naruto didn't hear a word beyond "twin sister." _What?! __A twin sister?!__ Whaaaat! How am I supposed __to-_

At that point he heard Sakura's voice in his head again. _Naruto! A ninja never gives __himself__ away._

_Right, right, Sakura.__ I gotta calm down, keep my cool. All this probably isn't real anyway. _Again, Naruto got that strange feeling, like something was . . . missing. He rubbed his neck, but that wasn't right. _Come on. Think later. Listen now. _

The kid moved to the next room. "Okay, then we have Namikaze Kenji. He's still a Gennin, under Uncle Kakashi's team. He's not really a great ninja, but Kakashi says that he breaks the rules too much for him to be a good ninja. Daddy always says that rules aren't everything." He penciled the name in a third room.

_That's messed up. My younger brother is on Kakashi-sensei's team and Kakashi-sensei actually cares about rules? This is definitely weird. No way __am__ I in a real place. __Must be genjutsu of some kind._

"Okay, then there's me." The kid grinned widely. "I'm Namikaze Raidon. I'm not a ninja yet, but I start at the Academy in two weeks. Then I'm gonna be a great ninja and someday I'll be Hokage, just like Daddy."

_So, the Manic Midget has a name. __Raidon.__ Okay. _

"So? So? So?" Raidon jumped up and down on the couch excitedly. _Geez, the kid is part bouncy ball. Was I ever like that? Hmmm. Considering that Kakashi-sensei still calls me Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja, probably. _

"So what?" Naruto asked.

Raidon rolled his eyes dramatically. "So can we do kunai training now? Can we? Can we? Can we? Pleeeeeeeee-"

"Alright! Alright! We'll go." Naruto stood up, and Raidon followed, punching the air emphatically. "Do Mom and Dad-" _Saying that sounds so weird._ "-know where we're going?"

Raidon stared at him. "Duh, Naruto. We talked about it at dinner last night!"

Naruto put his fists on his hips. "Well, I just wanted to make sure. A ninja always double checks. Believe it!"

Raidon rolled his eyes again. "Whatever. Let's go!"

Naruto followed Raidon through the streets of Konoha, trying to assimilate everything the midget had told him. A family, consisting of parents, a sister and two brothers. Hmmm. That was interesting. He'd have to play along as a brother/son until he could figure out how to get home. _One problem.__ I've never been a brother or a son. How do I pretend to be one? Won't they notice if I'm acting strange? _

"Okay, so how are we going to start this?" Raidon asked, skipping about three feet in front of Naruto.

_Uhhh.__ How do I do this?_ "Have you, ah, done any strength training?"

Raidon scrunched up his face. "Strength training? Like what?"

"You know, push-ups and stuff like that?"

Midget shrugged. "Not really."

Naruto nodded. "Then that's what we'll start with. Do you have a training field preference?"

"Huh?"

_Ha! Now who's confused? _"Okay, we'll just see what's open." Naruto led the way to the fields and decided on Field 3. It had several targets in an open field, so any that Midget missed he could find easily. No point in wasting kunais.

Naruto clapped his hands together. "Alright! First, we start with, uh, fifty push-ups. How does that sound?"

Raidon scowled. "No way. I can do more than fifty! I'll do a hundred!" He dropped down and proceeded to do so. Naruto followed, not seeing any harm in doing some push-ups to keep his strength up. As he pumped, he thought.

_This is certainly interesting. What is the last thing I remember before waking up here? _

_Hmmmm._

_Hmmmm._

_Hmmmm._

_Ah, hah! That thing I tripped over! Sasuke said, ah, what did he say when I touched it? "Its like the thing is pulling you somewhere." So, whatever that was pulled me into __this whatever__ this is. __Hmmm._

_Hey, Kyuubi, _he thought, addressing the fox inside him. _Any ideas?_

Silence answered him.

_Hey? __You there?_

_Fine, bastard.__ Don't __answer,__ just remember that whatever happens to me happens to you, too. _

Still nothing.

_Kyuubi?_

"Naruto?"

He snapped his head to the side to see a panting Raidon. "What?"

"I finished."

Naruto froze mid-push-up._Already?_ "Oh. Okay." _How many did I do when I was thinking?_

"Okay. The strength training helps you throw the kunai with more force, which does more damage." _Oh, man I need more time to think. __Uhhh._ "What is just as important as physical strength is chakra strength." _What did Sakura say when we ran up trees? _"There are two parts to chakra: physical and spiritual. Only when the two work in balance can you be a great ninja." _Something __like__ that._ "So, the next step in learning to properly throw a kunai is to get in touch with your chakra."

Raidon stared at him. "How do I do that?"

Naruto showed him how, channeling his own chakra into a small ring around his body. Raidon, thinking this the coolest in the world, sat down and immediately began to concentrate.

_Kyuubi?__ Listen, if you're there this isn't funny. Whatever happens to me, happens to you, too, remember? I could use your help to get back home._

_ . . . Look, jerk, do you want to die! _

"Naruto?"

The Chuunin opened his eyes and glared at his "brother." "What?"

Raidon shifted and pouted, Naruto's snapping intimidating him. "Nothing." His voice was very small.

Naruto sighed. Who knew the kid was sensitive? "Look, I'm sorry I snapped. You just broke my concentration. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

His green eyes slowly rose, then glanced away in shame. "I keep getting distracted. I can't concentrate."

Concentration problems? Those, Naruto could sympathize with. Hm. What was it the Pervy Sage said to help him during Rasengan training?

"Gimme your hand."

Raidon obediently held out his left hand. "Left handed, huh?" Naruto drew a marker out of his pack. As he drew the Hidden Leaf Symbol on the boy's palm, he explained. "When the village was founded, sometimes the ninja would have trouble concentrating, too. So they would lay down and put leaves on their foreheads and focus on the leaves. That's why we have a leaf on our headbands." Naruto tapped his own. "Now, for our purposes, we need to concentrate on our hands, so . . ." Finished, the blonde showed Midget his palm. On it was the Hidden Leaf Symbol. "Here you go. Now, just imagine your chakra as energy, fire if you like, flowing to that mark on your palm. Kay?"

A huge grin spread on the boy's face. "Alright! I got this now!"

Naruto went back to his own chakra and investigated it closely. Where was the fox's chakra? He shot a glance to Raidon and, seeing him deep in concentration, went inside himself.

_He heard the steady drip of the water. The sewer of his mind—when he had told Kakashi-sensei how he saw his mind, the Jounin's eye had curved into a crescent. "I'm not that surprised"—was a familiar place. Naruto began to travel through the passages of his mind, searching for the cage he knew contained the fox. _

_He arrived at the place it should be. __Nothing._What is this? _Naruto turned around and began to look elsewhere. _

_Up this passage, down that.__ Right, left, straight. __Nowhere._

Kyuubi?

_The fox didn't answer. All Naruto could hear was the echo of his own voice. _

KYUUBI!

_Again, nothing._Oh, man. This is bad. Whatever that thing was managed to mess with the fox, or get so deep in my head I can't find him. _Naruto checked for a couple more minutes. He flew down the halls, then back to the huge cavern where the fox was. __Still, nothing.__ Mindful of the boy waiting, Naruto exited his mind. _

Raidon was still trying to mold chakra. Naruto could sense a little bit collecting in his hands. Pretty impressive for a seven-year-old. The Chuunin drew out a polished kunai knife and checked his reflection.

_Just as I thought.__ No whiskers._

His face was unblemished, smooth. He was missing the three lines stretching across his cheeks, evidence of the fox's possession. _No whiskers and I couldn't find the fox in my mind. _

Naruto reached out with his senses. Normally, they were super-heightened. He could sometimes detect a person by their scent alone and he could normally hear an insect buzzing at over twenty feet away. Now, though . . .

_It's like someone put a damper on the world. Everything is dull compared to what I'm used to. _

_What could this mean? _

_Whatever that thing was, it was powerful enough to mess with Nine-Tails. That's pretty bad. _

He glanced at Raidon again. Now, his hands were faintly glowing with chakra. _Man. __If I'd had that control when I was his age._

Naruto moved closer to his brother. "Raidon," he murmured. "Keep concentrating on your hands, but slowly open your eyes."

Midget nodded. His lids crept up. Then his eyes widened as he saw his blue-tinted hands. "WOW!!"

Instantly, the chakra was gone. Naruto laughed. The boy scowled and jumped on him. Naruto rolled over, easily taking Raidon's weight.

"Quit laughing!"

Naruto only laughed harder. He deflected Raidon's punch, but took a knee to the gut.

"Hey!" he protested. "Knock it off." He threw the kid about five feet in the air.

Raidon landed on his feet. _Nimble little cat._ "AARRGH!" He charged.

The older blonde sidestepped and tripped him. As Raidon flew through the air, Naruto grabbed his ankle and dangled him upside down.

"Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!" Raidon twisted and swung wildly—and ineffectively. Naruto held the child away from him, in utterly no danger because his arm was about twice as long as the boy's.

"Get down yourself," Naruto challenged. Raidon howled in frustration and continued to convulse. Naruto snorted in amusement. "That won't work. Use your brain, Midget."

Raidon snarled. "Don't call me that!"

Naruto laughed. "I can call you whatever I want until you get down, Shortie."

"I'll tell DAD!"

"Tell me what?"

Naruto snapped his head around. Raidon stopped swinging. There, at the entrance to the training field, stood Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage. _He's . . . tall. _

Minato grinned and stepped forward. "What's going on here?"

Raidon folded his arms and pouted. "Naruto won't let me down."

"Is that so?" Minato's grin widened as he turned to Naruto. Naruto simply stared at him. Spiky yellow hair, intense blue eyes, he was wearing a blue jumpsuit and green vest, like any Jounin. He was missing his Hokage robes. _This man is . . . my father. No, wait. Maybe that's just a lie, concocted by whoever or whatever dragged me here! Really, what kind of dad would seal a demon in his own son?_

_But . . ._

_Look at him. I feel like I'm looking into a mirror. We have the same hair, the same eyes. Man, this is weird. _

_What if he's my father in the real world, too? _

"Naruto, are you okay, son?" Naruto snapped out of it. Minato was looking at him intently.

"He's been doing that a lot," Raidon confessed.

The blonde frowned down at him. "Tattletale." He dropped Raidon.

"OWW!" The seven-year-old rolled around on the ground, clutching his head.

Minato bit his lip and closed his eyes. "Naruto . . ."

"Wha-at?" Naruto shrugged. "His skull's thick enough, I think."

The Hokage's shoulder's shook with suppressed laughter. "That's not the point. I-" He stuffed his fist into his mouth to hold the cackle back. After several seconds, he turned back to Naruto. "Your mother-" Again, he had to stop and control the laugh.

Naruto smirked and snuck up to Minato's ear. "You should really just give up," he whispered.

He swung his arm in a wide arc, which Naruto easily dodged. Then followed his advice.

Raidon scowled at the two of them. "Quit laughing!"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 4: Uchihas and Ramen

Naruto wandered the streets of Konoha, again. He'd managed to confirm that he didn't have any training with his sensei, who happened to be Uchiha Obito. _I still can't believe he's alive in this wherever. _

Naruto checked behind him. _It doesn't look like anyone's following me. But just to be on the safe side . . ._ He wandered into a nearby shop. Swiftly, he did Shadow Clone Jutsu. He then transformed and waltzed out of the shop as a red-haired teenager. His clone swaggered across the street to another shop.

_Next step, find Sasuke. He was the last person I saw in the real world and he _was _right there when the thing—whatever. _

Naruto hurried to where he knew Sasuke's apartment was in the real world. Unlike his crappy, cheap apartment, Sasuke had a nice, somewhat expensive flat, set up for him after the massacre of his family. Naruto hurried to the list of names, looking for _306 U.S._

_Huh? Where's Sasuke? All I see is 306 Y.H. There are _no _U.S.-es._ Naruto scowled at the listing. _I guess Sasuke doesn't live here in this world. _

"Hello? Who are you?" The landlord tottered up to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Sasuke," he answered absently, still inspecting the list of names, forgetting he still looked like the redhead.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Mmm-hmmm."

The old man's face filled with bewilderment. "Why would he be here? He's in the Uchiha compound."

_Oh. I guess they're all alive in this place. Sasuke must be happy. _Naruto smacked his forehead. _Of course, Obito's alive and he's an Uchiha. Why didn't I think of that? _"He, uhh, told me he was thinking of moving out."

The old man snorted. "And you listened? Even if he wanted to, he couldn't," he insisted. "Everyone knows that." He wobbled off.

_Eh? Why couldn't Sasuke move out? This doesn't make any sense. _Naruto moved through the city. He knew where the compound was only because it was the only section of the city not alive with activity in the real world. It was a big, dead zone right in the middle of Konoha. He had wandered in once, hiding again when he'd pulled a prank. It provided a good hiding place, but the place was so . . . deserted, he'd never gone back, no matter what.

Now, he stood at the gate and stared up at it. There were two guards, standing at the gates. Naruto strode forward and smiled. "Hey, can I come in?"

The two Uchihas scowled at him. "You must state your name first."

_I guess not everybody knows that I'm the Hokage's son here. That's weird. Pretty much everybody at home knows Konohamaru and he's the Hokage's grandson. _"I'm Uz-uh, _Namikaze_ Naruto. I'm here to see Sasuke," he explained.

The guards looked him up and down. "Yeah, right, kid. Everyone knows all the Namikazes are blond." He grabbed a handful of Naruto's hair. "This look blond to you?"

"Oh, yeah." _I forgot I hadn't changed back yet._ "Sorry. I forgot about my disguise." He poofed back to his normal, yellow-haired self. "See?"

The guards glanced at each other. "So, you expect us to believe that you're really Naruto, but you were wandering around in a disguise? Like you'd want to, you love the attention everybody lavishes on you, _Konoha's hero_."

_Konoha's hero?__ Alright! Everybody in this world recognizes how great I am. I wonder what I did to be the __hero?__Probably something really great and impressive.__ Awesome!_

The guard, still clutching his hair, began to walk away from the Uchiha compound.

"_Hey!!!_" Naruto shouted. He stumbled over the ground, trying to get his feet under him as the guard dragged him away. "Knock it off, you jerk! You're gonna pay for this, you'll see. I'll pulverize you the first chance I get!"

He thrashed madly, trying to get a good shot at the guard. "AAARRRGH!!"

He heard Kakashi-sensei's voice in his head. _Someday, Naruto, you'll have to use the brain I assume is in your head. _

_Yeah, that's right, Kakashi-sensei. I'll use my brain. _

_How do I do that?_

Naruto dug his heels into the ground. He made a few hand signs and—

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The guard froze. "What!"

Next to Naruto, two perfect clones of him appeared. The clones grinned and attacked the guard. One went for his throat while the other grabbed the hand holding the original's hair.

Both poofed away in seconds.

The guard hauled Naruto up by his hair, lifting him several inches off the ground. "_OOOOWWW!__LEGGGO!"_

"Namikaze Naruto is good, but he's not that good!" The guard slammed him against a wall. "I know you're not the real thing! We're going to Lord Hokage and telling him that some idiot is impersonating his son!"

The guard dragged him down the street quickly, not caring if others saw or stared.

Naruto peeked around the corner and watched them go. _So, I'm the top Chuunin, but I don't have my favorite move. Huh. _He spun around and strode back to the compound.

"I can't go in through the gate, the other guard will recognize me. Security's pretty tight around here." Naruto thought for a moment, then grinned. "I guess I'll just have to sneak in."

He spent the next hour scoping out the place, looking for an opening, a crack, anything to sneak his way in. Then he scowled. _Yeesh.__ This place is locked up tighter than Granny Tsunade's sake cabinet. How am I gonna get in to see Sasuke?_

The blonde sat in a tree, contemplating the puzzle. _Shikamaru could figure this out. __Sakura, too.__ They're both really smart. _He pondered over it for another few minutes. Then his stomach grumbled.

_I am really hungry. I can't think like this. _He grinned and jumped out of the tree. _I guess I'll have to take a break and get some ramen!!_

Spirits instantly buoyed, Naruto all but sprinted to Ichiraku's. He bounced through the streets, waving at people happily. Oblivious, he sang The Ramen Song, which he had written and composed.

"Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen. I love ra-amen! I love it for breakfast and dinner and lunch. I love it with pork and spices and—" He never found a word to rhyme with lunch "—stuff! I lo-o-o-ove—" He took a deep breath. "Raaaaaameeeennnn!!"

On the last note, he jumped and landed in a stool in front of his favorite vendor in the world. "Hey! Gimme some ramen with barbequed pork, please!"

The server looked at him strange, but put a bowl in front of the teen. "Here you go."

Happily, Naruto broke his chopsticks apart. "Itadikimasu!" He dug into the deep bowl of heaven with fervor and delight.

"Jeez, Naruto," a feminine voice behind him chastised. "Do you have to be so loud?"

Naruto spun around. There was the girl from the picture—Tama—his _twin sister._ She stood just inside the shop, hands on her hips, eyeing his meal with a mixture of disgust and amusement. _Wow. She's even prettier than her picture. I wonder why we look different if we're twins. _

"Well?" she demanded.

Naruto swallowed the mouthful of ramen noodles with an audible _gulp._ "Well, what?" _Oh, man. I meet her for the first time and I say something stupid like that? _

Tama rolled her eyes. She took the stool next to him. "Could I just have a drink, please?"

The owner nodded and went off to get her order. She turned to him. "Why are you staring at me?"

Naruto blinked. _Oh, what did Jiraya say will always distract girls when they're angry about something? __Uhh. . ._"Did you do something new with your hair?"

Tama patted her head and smiled. "Yeah, I decided I'd put it up today instead of braiding it. What do you think?"

He smiled. "Looks fine."

_"Fine?"_

_This isn't good. _"I mean, uh—" _Crap, crap, crap. _"—um, what I mean by 'fine' is well, excellent, fantastic." _Will that work? I don't know how strong she is, but she's my sister in this place. _

The girl looked at him, eyes assessing. "You're acting weird, niisan."

_Oh, man this is even __worse._ Naruto shoveled some ramen into his mouth and shrugged.

She pulled back. "You've got noodles hanging out of your mouth. Ugh. I've lost my appetite. Dad wants to see you when you're done here, 'kay?" She strode out, ponytail swinging.

_Dad?__ Oh, yeah, the Hokage. Wonder what it__'__s about? Oh, well. No rush. I'll just finish my ramen and go to his office. _

Naruto turned back to his bowl. After devouring all of the noodles, he picked the bowl up and slurped the broth up. _I guess I should go see my "dad" now. _

He pulled out his money. "How much?"

Slapping the money down—Tama had left him with her drink's bill, too—he jumped up and began to walk in the general direction of the Hokage's office.

-break-

Naruto wandered through the building. Everyone he passed nodded and smiled, and he tried to act like it was normal. _At home, every time I go to the Hokage's office unsummoned, they assume I've done something wrong. _

The Hokage's secretary smiled warmly at him. "You can sit here," she said, indicating a plushy chair. "He just needs to finish a meeting with the elders."

_The elders, huh?__ From what I've heard, they're pretty old and stupid. Ero-sennin calls them "old farts with __the Scroll of Sealing stuck__ up their__ collective__ butts." _

Naruto settled into the chair and twiddled his thumbs.

_Boy, its quiet in here. _

_I almost wish I had Kyuubi snarling and insulting me. _

Naruto bit his lip, again worrying about the state of the Kyuubi. Not that he was worried for the stupid fox itself, but if he couldn't access the fox's chakra, then he wasn't as strong as normal, and he wouldn't heal as fast either.

_I'll have to be careful, I guess._

Naruto sat there for another fifteen minutes before asking, "How long are they gonna be in there?"

The secretary grimaced. "Probably another half-hour or so."

"Geez. What do they do in there?"

She smiled. "Mostly, the elders try to get your father to do something he doesn't want to do but they think will help. He'll have another idea. Naturally, he'll get bullheaded and obstinately refuse until the elders compromise their position to meet his." She found a piece of paper and wrote something on it. "It would be easier if he started out by suggesting they reach a compromise, but they've been annoying him lately."

"A half-hour, huh?"

"That's usually it."

A half-hour later, the door opened and the elders walked out. Naruto covered a snicker with a cough. _They really do walk like they've got something up their butts. _Several of the old people glared at him, clearly not fooled by his laugh-cough.

"Naruto?"

He raised his head. _Now this is the Hokage I know. _He wore his red and white robes with the collar high around his face and he was on the verge of a scowl.

Naruto grinned. "Hey, Tama told me you wanted to see me."

"Yes. Come inside." Minato walked back in, leaving the door open.

The Chuunin shrugged, picked up the boxes at his feet and followed. "Hey, I brought something for you." He held up the boxes.

"Ramen?"

Naruto grinned wider. "Yep. Huraki said you might not go out for lunch, so I figured I'd bring it to you." He set the boxes of piping hot ramen on the desk with a thunk.

The Hokage rubbed the back of his neck. His lips twitched. "Uh . . . thanks, I think. Have a seat." He indicated the chair.

Naruto sat happily and opened a box. "So, what did you want to see me about?" He stuffed a bunch of ramen noodles in his mouth and detecting no barbequed pork, went fishing for one to add.

"Uh," Minato hedged. "Eat your food more slowly, you'll get indigestion."

"Mmph."

He shook his head and waited for his son to finish inhaling the ramen. "Again, if you eat your food slowly, you'll enjoy it more."

"Yeah," Naruto acknowledged. "But if you eat faster, you can eat more."

The Hokage chuckled and went back to his ramen. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto gulped down the broth and sighed heavily. "Wonderful, now."

"No, I mean, you've been acting weird today," he said, looking closely at his son.

"I have?"

Minato nodded, eating a mouthful of noodles. "You've been staring into space a lot, according to your brother and sister."

"Oh." Naruto opened a second box and inhaled deeply. He shrugged. "Well, I don't know. I guess I just woke up in a weird mood today." He stuffed more noodles in his mouth.

The Fourth sighed as he searched for the last of his noodles in the broth. "An Uchiha guard showed up in my office today and claimed that an impostor of you tried to infiltrate the compound."

The younger blond snorted. "The guard's an idiot. I had used a disguise to throw off my tail." At this he gave his father a hard, annoyed look, which only got a raised eyebrow in response. "I wanted to see Sasuke, and I forgot I was walking around in disguise. The guards wouldn't let me in." He wound a huge clump of ramen around his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. "Mph juspht phrand-"

"Naruto! Didn't I teach you any manners?"

The Chuunin blushed slightly. _Again, new sensation.__ I've never been embarrassed about my _manners_ before. __Except, sometimes, with Sakura._After swallowing, Naruto apologized.

"Anyway," Minato continued. "The guard mentioned that you used Shadow Clone Jutsu to get away from him."

_Ahh, I can't really tell him I stole a scroll and learned it when I was twelve to pass the graduation exam. Uh . . ._ Naruto shrugged. "I saw some Jounin use it recently and, um, I thought it was cool, so I researched it a little and started working on it." _Will he buy that? Can you do that?_

Minato rolled his eyes. "I'll have to have a talk with Obito," he muttered. "Teaching you a forbidden jutsu."

_He thinks I lied to protect my sensei. Huh. _"Look, I asked him to, so don't go too hard on him, okay?" He gave his father a pleading look. "It's my fault."

The fourth Hokage grinned. "Did you give him that look when you asked him to teach you?"

_Uhhh. . ._ Naruto nodded.

"I guess having big blue eyes is good for something, huh?" He chuckled and picked up his bowl to drink the last of the broth. "Just tell Obito that if he does something that stupid again, I'll kill him, okay?"

"Okay."

He tilted the bowl back and slurped it up. Loudly.

"Geez, Dad. You chastise me for bad manners and then do that? No wonder I'm so ill-behaved." Naruto snickered at the mighty Hokage's pink cheeks and sheepish grin.

"Just don't tell your mother I do that. She'd kill me."

Naruto leaned back in his chair. "Hmm . . ."

"Naruto . . ."

They held eyes for a minute, then Naruto capitulated. "Alright, but on one condition."

His father's eyes narrowed. "That would be . . ."

"We do some one-on-one training every week."

Minato seemed surprised by this request. "Okay. You could've just asked." He set the bowls and boxes from Ichiraku's aside.

"Oh," Naruto said. "Then, in that case, the condition is-"

"Ah-ha!" He waved a pen at his son. "Not so fast. You already named the terms, you have to abide by them." He grinned.

Naruto made a face and slouched back in his chair. Minato bent to his desk and scribbled on a piece of paper. "Any particular time or place you'd like to train?"

"I don't know. We'd have to work the schedule around my missions, of course, and any big duties you have." Naruto scratched the back of his head and squinted up at the ceiling. Suddenly, he jumped up and slammed his palms onto the desk. "Whenever, wherever, I'll be ready for you, old man! Believe it!"

The Hokage raised a slim, yellow eyebrow. "Really." In an instant, he was gone from his chair and standing behind Naruto. The Chuunin felt the pinprick of a kunai at his back. "I thought you said you'd be ready whenever, wherever, _little boy_."

Naruto grinned. "Aren't you worried about your office getting ruined, Lord Hokage?"

Minato snorted. "The elders have to pay for any damages, it's their building."

"Oh, well, then," Naruto said. He grinned and threw himself back onto the kunai.

"What-" Minato pulled back the kunai to avoid Naruto impaling himself on it. "Naruto!"

The Naruto in front of him vanished in a puff of smoke as he felt a kunai at his neck. "Yeah?"

Minato grinned. "Not bad, kiddo." He grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled the kunai away with sheer force. Twisting his arm, the elder blonde tried to spin and hit the younger, but Naruto had spun with the twist and now brought his knee up to smash into Minato's face.

Avoiding the flying knee, the Hokage fell back and brought both feet up to a double kick in the stomach. Naruto flew up, slamming into the ceiling. He threw his hands and feet out, channeling chakra into the plaster to stay up there. Minato grinned, but at that moment, a fist came up through the floor. Naruto grinned. _Take that, Dad!_

It slammed into his back at the same time Naruto pushed off the ceiling. Minato spun in the air, but the up-through-the-floor clone was there, meeting him. He matched the clone's smirk and punched him in the face. The clone vanished instantly, but real Naruto was behind him with two kunais. They landed on the floor, a kunai on either side of Minato's neck, Naruto's knees pinning his arms to the floor. _Gotcha!_

Minato chuckled. "Pretty good," Minato admitted. Naruto beamed with pleasure. "If you were Raidon."

Naruto's grin widened. "If you're trying to goad me, it won't work."

His father only laughed harder. "Nope. That's just a distraction." _Crap! _Naruto tried to roll off him, but it was too late. Minato had channeled his chakra into his back and changed it to kinetic energy. Naruto was suddenly flying up to the ceiling. _Again! Oh, man!_

But before he actually hit the ceiling again, a hand grabbed his ankle. Suddenly, Naruto was hanging upside down by his foot.

"Very funny!" he snarled.

Minato laughed uproariously. "Get down on your own, Shortie!"

_Hmph__! You think you're so good, but I know your weakness, buddy. _Naruto frowned, slowed his thrashing for half a second, then picked it up again. After another second, he groaned slightly and suddenly went limp, his mouth hanging open and his eyes half-shut. _This'll get him for sure. Thanks, Granny Tsunade. _He drew his chakra inside and pictured his insides, specifically his heart. _Slow down, just a little bit. _It obeyed, slowing just a fraction.

Minato tensed.

_Okay,_ he told his heart. _Just a little bit more_. In an instant, Naruto was not hanging upside down, but being carefully placed on the floor.

Moving on instinct, Naruto slammed a fist into where he thought his father's face should be.

_Crunch._

A brilliant blue eye popped open, triumph shining. Minato was clutching his nose, staring at his son, who was now grinning. "Gotcha!"

Naruto sat up and sat back. Blood was pouring out of the Hokage's nose and it looked suspiciously crooked. "Did I break your nose?"

Minato answered with a glare and wiped the blood away with his robes. "Yes." He sat up and waved away the concerned faces at the door.

A medic-nin stepped forward. "But Lord Hokage, your nose-"

Another wave of the hand. "I'll be fine. The first person to ever break my nose was my son . . ." He muttered, then grinned. "I think I'll keep it crooked."

"Maybe it'll make you look better," Naruto teased. Minato made a face, then pressed a hand to his tender nose.

The medic nodded uncertainly. "Can I at least set it?"

Minato glared at him and the man scurried away. The others backed off. Huraki shook her head. "The elders aren't going to be pleased, Lord Hokage."

"The elders can—"

Naruto coughed, cutting off Minato before he could say what the elders could do.

Hukari smiled. "Why don't you take some mission logs home? You could teach Naruto how to assign mission ranks and ninjas." She turned and sat down to make some calls to a contractor.

The Hokage stood and offered Naruto a hand to help him up. "Not bad, Naruto." He dusted some plaster out of his son's yellow spikes. "Where did you learn to slow your heart like that?" He held up a finger in warning. "And I _know_ Obito didn't teach you that."

Naruto grinned as Minato crossed to his desk and began collecting scrolls. "I can't tell you that. It's a secret."

They had a staring contest for a couple minutes until Naruto's eyes began to water.

Finally, Minato looked away and shook his head. "Just be careful when you use that, okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Okay."

_Gah, it__'__s been bugging me forever. I have to ask him. He should know. He's the Hokage, after all._

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

Naruto fidgeted, staring at his feet.

"What is it?"

"Uh, why can't Sasuke leave the Uchiha compound?"

Minato stopped what he was doing and gave Naruto a long look.

"Naruto, don't you remember?"

He shook his head.

"Sasuke's blind."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 6

Naruto sat on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head, watching dusk settle on Konoha again.

_Sasuke's blind. _

Upon hearing these words from Minato's mouth, Naruto had lost his head. He had forgotten completely that he was supposed to act normal and that any problem on his part could get him killed.

_What! _He had slammed his fist onto the desk again. _You're lying!_

Minato had gone back to his suspicious pose. _Naruto, Sasuke's been blind for over a year. You know that-_

_No! _Naruto had back away from him. _No! You're lying! Sasuke's not blind! _

With this statement, Naruto had spun away from his father and jumped through the window. The Hokage had immediately followed him, but Naruto had thrown him off with two dozen shadow clones and disguises.

_Naruto!_

He had sprinted through the streets of Konoha. Coming up to the Uchiha compound, he had shoved the guards out of the way and blasted through the gates.

He had found Sasuke in a dark room, doing nothing.

_Sasuke?_

The Uchiha had raised his head.

_Who's there?_

Naruto hadn't answered, but flipped on the light.

Sasuke hadn't reacted, not even a flinch or blink.

_It's not true._

The dark-haired teen frowned. _Naruto?_

_It's not true._

Sasuke had turned to the sound of his voice. _What are you doing here?_

Naruto hadn't answered. He had seen the scars around Sasuke's eyes. He had seen the way his lids didn't lift all the way. What he had not seen was the familiar, contemptuous, nearly-black orbs sneering at him.

_Well?_

_You . . . you're . . . but—but how . . . I don't_

Sasuke sneered, but it was tinged with bitterness, not arrogance. _The wonderful__ Namikaze Naruto, Konoha's hero, son of the Fourth Hokage, is stammering? That doesn't become you, great one._

Naruto had moved closer to Sasuke. _You're blind._

Sasuke had frowned, his lips tightening, extenuating the deep scars around his eyes.

_How did this happen? Sasuke?_

Naruto had run forward, grabbing his friend/rival by the shoulders.

_What are you talking about? _

_Who did this, Sasuke? Who did this to you?_

Sasuke had snorted. _Come to lord it over me, Naruto? How you had to pull me out of there and save my life?_

_Sasuke! Just tell me! Who blinded you?_

Sasuke had shoved him away with all of his strength, which wasn't all that impressive. _Quit playing stupid, Naruto!_

_I'm not!_

The Uchiha had snarled at this. _You expect me to believe that you don't remember your great achievement? How I failed and killed my father, brother and teammates along with the enemy?_

_What? What's wrong with you?_

_Oh, I get it. You want me to relive it, huh? _Sasuke had laughed, an unpleasant, harsh sound. _The worst day in my life?_

_Sasuke—_

_Fine. I was on a mission. My father and brother were on a team with me and several other Uchihas. We ran across a great enemy. He used a certain technique and I copied it with my Sharingan. _

He had spat the last word out with utter contempt.

_Unfortunately, I didn't have the skill necessary to control the technique or the Sharingan eye. I had only mastered it a few months before. _

_No, Sasuke, you—_

_I lost control._

Sasuke's hand had curled into a fist.

_I killed the enemy, that's for sure, but I also killed all of my teammates. _Sasuke's voice had almost cracked on the last word, but he held it together.

_No._

_Oh, yes, Naruto. _The bitterness had returned, in full force. _Then you arrived. You found me, injured and unconscious on the ground and fought off the one ninja who had kept back. You picked me up and carried me back to Konoha. If you hadn't come along, I would have died._

_Sasuke._

He had stood up by now.

_Do you remember yet? You saved the Uchiha heir. You are the hero of the clan and of Konoha. _

_But, Sasuke, your eyes—_

Sasuke had snarled again and taken a wild swing at Naruto, who had easily blocked it.

_I guess the great Naruto has a streak of sadism no one knew was there, huh? Well, this ought to satisfy you, bastard!_

_Who—what happened to your eyes? Who?_

Sasuke had laughed again.

_You're looking at him. _

Naruto had back away, staring dumbly as Sasuke had thrown his head back and laughed at his own joke. _Get it? _Looking _at the guy who gouged his own eyes out? Well? Get it? _

Naruto had sensed an Uchiha guard coming closer to him, calling out for Sasuke. He had left again through the window, only to encounter a couple of ANBU black ops. He again used shadow clones, disguises and substitution jutsus to get rid of his followers. He had run through Konoha's streets, time and time again foiling his pursuers.

Naruto now sat on the stone head of his father.

_Sasuke's blind. _

Just yesterday, he had sat on this same spot and watched the sun set with Sasuke.

_Sasuke's blind._

Naruto ran his hands through his hair. He buried his face in them.

_Sasuke's blind._

_No, no Sasuke can't be blind. He can't be. He's the best fighter I know, he mastered the Sharingan years ago._

Naruto slammed his fist into the ground. His knuckles came away bleeding.

_That's right, Naruto. Get a hold of yourself. This—this—whatever this is, isn't real! _

He took a deep breath.

_In the real world, Sasuke isn't blind. He never messed up like that. _

_Sasuke's not blind._

_Sasuke's blind._

Naruto shook his head vigorously. _No this is some kind of illusion. Those scars—the scars were just some kind of illusion, part of the trap! _

_But . . ._

_NO! I said enough._

Naruto snapped his head up.

_Alright! Enough moping. Naruto, you need to find out exactly what happened and reverse it! Then, everything will be back to normal._

_Yeah, that's it! I'll fix this! Believe it!_

"Naruto!"

He spun around to see his father standing behind him.

_Crap._ _What's he doing here? Can't I be alone? I need to think._

Minato stood about ten feet away from Naruto, and two ANBU were stationed behind him. He had doffed his robes and was dressed like a normal Jounin.

_He's sure more dangerous than a normal Jounin. _Naruto thought. _Especially when he's angry. Like now._ Minato had his mission face on, the one Naruto had always seen in the picture in the Hokage's office.

He waved the two ANBU away and they left in a flash. The Hokage took a step forward. "Naruto."

_Hmm. I think I'm in trouble._

Naruto spun around and sat back down.

Suddenly, Minato was next to him. Naruto jumped. _Geez, he's silent. And fast. What is he here about? _

"Naruto . . ."

_Oh. _

_Yeah._

_The whole Naruto-didn't-know-Sasuke-is-blind thing. Crap, crap, crap, crap! What do I do? What do I do?_

_Ha! I know. I'll lie!_

_Uh, what should I lie about? Oh, man, now I have to come up with some kind of story. What will he believe?_

Minato was silent for a while. He opened his mouth to speak, but Naruto cut him off.

"Uh, Dad."

"Yes?"

Naruto bit his lip. _Well, here goes. I hope he'll buy this. _"I, uh, didn't want to scare you or Mom, but . . ."

The tension went up. Minato didn't say anything. Naruto waited for a couple seconds.

"Well, son?"

"I've, um, been having headaches lately. Really bad ones. That's why I've been acting weird."

Minato didn't say anything for a long time. Naruto could hear him doing what sounded like deep-breathing exercises. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah." He waited a couple seconds. _Is he buying this?_ "This isn't the first memory lapse I've had."

His father closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "How long has this been going on?"

Naruto shrugged. _I think it's working. _"I dunno. A couple months."

"Naruto . . ."

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered. "I just didn't want to scare you."

There were several seconds of silence. "I'll set up an appointment with a medic nin tomorrow. In the meantime . ."

_Yes! It worked! _Naruto bit his lip to contain his relief. "What should we tell Mom?"

Minato chewed his lip. "The truth. She'd kill me if we didn't. Besides, she might know something other medic nins don't. We'll just wait until after dinner."

Naruto nodded. _Whew. Dodged that one. I'm safe for now. _

"Let's go home. If we're late, your mother will worry."

Naruto frowned, but stood anyway. "Won't she be worrying—"

"Shut up and walk."

The younger blond sent a glance to his father. _Man. He looks a lot older. I did that? _

_No! Why am I caring about him? He's part of this trap, which means he's my enemy or he's not real. Either way, I don't care._

Still, he kept an eye on the Hokage the rest of the way. _Alright. Crisis averted for now, but what happens when they find _nothing _in my head? I'll have to stall the doctor's appointment for as long as possible. _

They walked through the streets of Konoha, two nearly-identical men, height and clothing the only differences. The two continued the walk to the rather large house that the Hokage and his family lived in.

At the door, a boy of about ten with gold spikes greeted them. Kenji gave a half-grin. "Hey. Mom was just about to send me out to find you."

"Yeah, you know how I hate dinner being late." A beautiful woman with brilliant green eyes came into the entryway.

_Mom._

Minato moved quickly and swept her up in his arms. Their kiss was long and deep.

"Ew." Kenji walked out.

Meara and Minato laughed. "You won't think so in another couple years," the boy's father warned. Naruto noticed some of the lines around his eyes had softened.

"Hn." Kenji walked upstairs. Minato and Meara only laughed harder.

"YOU'RE HOME! YOU'RE HOME! YOU'RE HOME!"

A blonde bundle of energy launched himself at his father. Minato caught Raidon and swung him up.

"Can we eat now? Pleeeeaaasse?"

Minato laughed. "Alright! Alright! We'll eat as soon as you wash your hands."

Raidon wrinkled his nose. "Why? They're not dirty!"

Naruto cut in. "You're seven, Shortie! They're _always_ dirty!"

"Nuh-huh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-huh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-huh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-huh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Stop!" Meara managed to laugh and scowl at the same time. "Raidon, wash your hands." He scrunched up his face and stomped off.

Naruto smirked after him. "Hehehehe!"

"Naruto," she continued. "Grow up!"

Raidon collapsed with giggles. "Hahahaha!"

The Chuunin snarled and charged at his brother, who promptly let out a scream and scrambled upstairs. _Ha! Still scared of me, Midget. _When Raidon was in the bathroom, water running, Naruto headed back downstairs.

"Minato, what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you after dinner."

"Is it about Naruto? I heard he broke into the Uchiha compound today."

"I'll tell you after dinner, Meara. It can wait until then."

"Minato-"

Naruto chose that moment to come downstairs. "Raidon is following your instructions, oh great and terrible leader." He bowed low to his mother.

She raised an eyebrow. "And you, unworthy subordinate?"

"Working on it, impatient and powerful one."

"That will be acceptable for now. Unimportant blonde one," she said, addressing her husband.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Go retrieve the food from the place of cooking," Meara ordered. Minato bowed and left the room.

Naruto popped back up and grinned, but his grin faltered when he saw the look on his mother's face. There was a strange look in her eyes, one Naruto had never seen before.

She reached up and smoothed a lock of his hair back. "I love you, Naruto."

The breath seemed to stop in Naruto's lungs. _I love you._ Nobody had ever said that to him before. He stared at the woman before him.

"Ah, thank you," he whispered.

Meara laughed. "That's what your father says half the time I tell him, too." She ruffled his hair again and walked away.

Naruto stared after her, close to tears. _I love you._ She was the first person to say that to him. _Stop! She's either the enemy or she's not real! Stop! _He buried his hands in his hair.

"Naruto? Are you alright?" It was Raidon, a concerned pout on his cute face.

The Chuunin smiled. "Yeah, I just have a headache, that's it."

"Oh." Raidon reached up and massaged Naruto's head with his still-wet hand. "Does this help?"

Despite the fact that his hair was now sopping wet, Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." Raidon grinned up at him.

Tama's voice came floating into the kitchen. "Dinner's ready! Come and get it!"

"Bet I can beat you!" Raidon challenged. He sprinted ahead, short legs pumping.

Naruto stood up and took a running leap over the seven-year-old's head. Raidon squealed and clutched his mop of hair. "Mooooom!"

"Boys! Just sit down!"

Raidon made a humph of indignance. "But he jumped over my head!"

"Aaaand I got here first!" Naruto stuck his tongue out.

The little boy snarled and charged, much as his older brother had done minutes ago. Naruto smirked and the two began to wrestle. The older was easily handling Raidon when suddenly his ear was grabbed and twisted. He gave a very manly yelp of surprise—not pain.

Meara dragged him to his feet, holding Raidon the same way. "Didn't I tell you to grow up!" she snapped into Naruto's clutched ear. She pulled him to a seat and sat him down in it. "You are doing the dishes tonight!"

Naruto gaped at her. "But—but, I—can—"

"Don't complain!"

He shut his mouth. _But I've never done dishes! All I eat in my apartment is instant ramen! How do I do dishes?_

Raidon was seated across from him. The two scowled at each other. Raidon began to "innocently" swing his legs, managing more than half the time to hit Naruto's shins. After a few minutes of this, Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He gave the seat of Raidon's chair a swift, hard kick and sent it sliding across the floor to bang into the wall.

"Ha!"

"Mooooom!"

"Minato, say something!"

"Boys! Listen to your mother!"

"Minato!"

"What! I said something!"

Naruto and Raidon snickered at their parents. Kenji walked in with a big bowl of soup. He dragged Raidon's chair back to the table and spooned some soup into his bowl. "Eat this and don't talk. You two are idiots."

"You're related to us, you know," Naruto retorted.

"Yes," Tama agreed, striding in with a dish of vegetables. She dumped some onto Naruto's plate. He made a face. "But we _clearly_ got all of the smart genes."

Naruto tried to shove the vegetables off his plate back into the serving dish. Tama hit his hand. "Stop that!"

"But I don't like vegetables," he whined.

"Yeah, me neither." Raidon chimed in, spraying soup.

Several voices made noises of disgust and reproach. He grinned and shoveled more soup into his mouth.

"DAAAAD!"

Right before Raidon could shower the dinner table with more soup, a yellow flash rushed by Naruto and a hand was clamped over the boy's mouth. _So that's the famous speed of the Yellow Flash, huh? _

Naruto grinned. "I guess being the Yellow Flash of Konoha is good for something."

Minato rolled his eyes as Meara entered with the main dish. She chuckled. "Yeah. Forget the Great Ninja Wars or saving people from collapsing buildings. His greatest accomplishment to date is the salvation of the dinner table." She dropped a kiss on his lips.

"Ew. I'm eating here." Kenji stared pointedly at his plate, which was now laden high with vegetables.

Naruto eyed the green stuff on his brother's plate. "Are you sure we're related?"

Kenji raised his eyes and met Naruto's. "What's wrong with vegetables?"

Naruto sneered. "I'd rather have ramen."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 8

Naruto inhaled the scent of ramen. _Ah, breakfast. Good thing I was able to sneak out. I'd have to eat, like, bacon or something. Bleeech._ Naruto shoveled some bacon-flavored ramen into his mouth. As he chewed, his mind ran over the conversation after dinner last night. It had gone, well, different than he'd expected. Naruto had expected Meara to fall apart, go into hysterics, have a panic attack. Instead she'd stroked his forehead again and gone up to bed. _She sure is, ah, interesting. _

He'd snuck out early, before anyone else was up and gone for a run, the same run he'd gone on two days ago across the Hokages' faces, except there was no Fifth Hokage. Not wanting to come home, Naruto had jogged to Ichiraku's.

Now, he rubbed his neck. He still missed his crystal necklace and couldn't find his favorite outfit. _I'll have to go out and buy it._ He had managed to find something orange in his wardrobe, but it was only a jacket. Everything else was black or blue.

"Naruto?"

The blonde snapped his head up at the familiar voice and spun on his seat to see a familiar kunoichi standing there.

"Sakura!"

He grinned at her. _She's pretty in every world._ "Hey, come have some ramen. I'll pay," he promised, wagging his eyebrows.

She put her hands on her hips but didn't join him. "Where were you last night for our date?"

"D-date?"

_DATE! I was on a date with Sakura! A date! Me and Sakura! Alright! This world rocks! Not only am I the greatest ninja in Konoha, Sakura's my girlfriend! Believe it!_

"Yes, our date. The one you missed."

_MISSED! Missed a date with Sakura! Nooooooooo! Nononononono! I had a date with Sakura and I missed it! My chance! How! Why? Gah! SASUKE! Sasuke's problems made me miss my date with Sakura! No! Saaaaaaakuuuuuuraaaaaaa!_

"Naruto? Are you okay?"

He snapped out of his mental anguished howling and smiled at her. _Maybe I can make it up to her! Say something! Say something cool!_

"Uhhh."

Luckily, at that moment, Tama grabbed a fistful of Naruto's hair. "You idiot!" She snarled. "What were you thinking, leaving like that? You nearly gave Mom a heart attack! Oh, hi Sakura!"

The girls smiled at each other. "Is something wrong? Naruto may be a total idiot, but he usually can take care of himself." Sakura smiled, but her smile faded when she saw Tama's face. "What's wrong?"

Naruto tugged his hair out of Tama's fist and busied himself with his ramen. Tama took a deep breath before answering. "We don't exactly know." She explained the situation to Sakura.

"I see. Does that have something to do with where you were last night?" Sakura asked, chewing her lower lip.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I had a memory lapse and uh, well, forgot about Sasuke," he explained.

He saw something strange flash in her green eyes. "Forgot about him? Like, forgot he existed?"

He shook his head. "Like forgot he was blind and everything. He had to tell me the whole story again of what happened, with the Sharingan and his family and everything. You know, the whole, rip his own eyeballs out thing."

Sakura said nothing, but folded her arms protectively around her waist. Again, Naruto saw that strange look in her eye. It was like her eyes went almost blank. Tama reached for her, but she walked out.

"Sakura!"

Naruto slapped some money down and followed her.

"Sakura!" He jogged after the pink-haired girl, weaving through the crowds on the street.

"Sakura! Wait up!" He saw her disappear into Yamanaka' Flower Shop. _Why would she go in there? Hm. Maybe she and Ino aren't enemies in this place. _

He followed her into the flower shop. He saw a flash of pink hair in the back, and tried to go to it, but was immediately dragged out by a blonde, very angry kunoichi wearing an apron over her usual purple attire.

"What is wrong with you?" Ino yelled, slamming him against the wall outside.

_Why does this keep happening to me? Why? _"What do you mean?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "What do I mean? How stupid are you? You bring up the whole Sasuke's-blind thing in front of her and expect her to be okay?"

Naruto stared at Ino. _Huh? _"Huh?"

The blonde kunoichi drew back her fist for a very painful punch-she wasn't as strong as Sakura, but man, were her knuckles hard! Naruto cringed as Tama saved him from a beating _again._

"Ino. Something's wrong with Naruto."

"Yeah, I'll say!"

"No, I mean medically. In his brain—"

"What brain?"

"Hey!"

"Ino! This is serious! He's been having memory lapses. You might need to explain the whole thing to him. Last night he didn't remember that Sasuke was blind!"

Ino froze, then slowly lowered her fist. "You really got a memory problem, Blondie?"

"Look who's talking," Naruto snapped, stinging over the Blondie comment. "And yes. I do. I think."

She sighed and exchanged a glance with Tama, who nodded and shrugged. "Alright. Here's the thing. Sakura and Sasuke were an item. Really serious, in love, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, once the whole accidental massacre happened, Sasuke changed. He started to push her away, be a real jerk to her."

Naruto scowled at this. _Sounds just like the Sasuke in my world. Bastard._

"Eventually, he just dumped her. He said he didn't love her, didn't want to be with her anymore." Ino continued. "It was really hard on Sakura. She went back and tried to help him, to get him to talk about it, and he did, but . . ."

Naruto waited impatiently for her to keep going and when she didn't, "But . . ."

Ino sighed. "But, it backfired. Sasuke exploded and let all the guilt out and that's when he gouged his eyes out. Right in front of her." Ino looked to the side, to the shop where Sakura was.

Again she paused, but Naruto didn't rush her. Her voice was quiet. "I found her, wandering around in a daze, covered in his blood. At first I thought she'd been attacked or something, and she wouldn't talk. I mean, not a peep, which is big for Sakura. She stayed locked up in her room for weeks. After a while, she came out of her house, but even now, bringing up Sasuke hurts her. And the fact that he's blind . . ."

At this, Ino turned back to glare at Naruto. "I still don't think she's over him. Which is why you shouldn't be her boyfriend." She gave him a shove.

Naruto scowled and folded his arms. "Look, if she didn't want to be with me, she could just say so."

Ino shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You don't get it, retard. She's in denial. As long as no one brings up Sasuke, she can live her life as if he didn't exist, but if he is mentioned, she would have to deal with it and she can't. She just can't."

"Did it ever occur to you to get her help, like counseling?" Naruto snapped. _Geez, that's what I would have done! What kind of a friend are you?_

Ino smacked him. "Of course! So did her parents, but it didn't work. She—are you sure you can't remember? This is an awful lot to forget." She squinted at him.

Naruto didn't answer, just glared.

"Fine, fine. When she went to counseling, she would withdraw. As in not talk, not respond to anything. Go back to how she was when I found her." Ino sighed. "Blocking out what happened is the only way she can deal with it."

_Hmm. I guess its not easy to see somebody you love maim himself in front of your eyes._ A thought occurred to Naruto."She feels guilty, doesn't she? If she hadn't gone over—"

"Probably." Ino cut him off. "I can't know for sure, but probably." She glanced back to Naruto. "You got enough now? To not mention him or any of it again?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I got it." _Man, this world sucks! Sasuke and Sakura are both messed up here. I gotta fix this. _

"Hey!" Sakura bounced out of the flower shop, smiling brightly. _I guess that's what Ino means by denial._ "What are you guys doing out here?"

Naruto, Ino and Tama exchanged glances. "Nothing," Naruto lied. "Ino was just going to beat me up." Well, that was true.

"Why?" Sakura asked.

Ino rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. "Because he's an idiot."

Sakura smiled at this. "True, but be nice and avoid his head. He's got something wrong with his brain. Besides, if you beat him up in your—uh, you know, Shikamaru will freak out."

"Shikamaru can—ah, never mind. I say he's faking," Ino declared, indicating Naruto with her chin.

_Oh, man, can she see through my act? _"What? Why would I be faking?" _That sounded guilty to even my ears. _

"Because I'm not convinced you have a brain!"

Naruto made a face as Sakura laughed and dragged him away before Ino could really beat him up. Tama tagged along long enough to tell them that Naruto's appointment was for two o'clock that day.

"Well, that gives us a few hours to kill," Naruto commented.

Sakura smiled and looped her arm through his. _This is a new sensation, _Naruto thought, marveling at the fact she was willing to touch him in this world. Usually she didn't unless she had to heal him. "Uh, what do you want to do?"

Sakura smiled. "Well, how about to make up for last night, you buy me lunch? I know a great place."

Naruto followed Sakura through Konoha. She was leading the way, being rather bossy about it, but he didn't mind. _I'm o__n a date with Sakura! Finally_

"So, uh, Sakura," Naruto started.

"Yes," she responded.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uh, what were you talking about with Ino?"

She frowned. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, you said Shikamaru wouldn't want Ino to fight for some reason. What was it?"

Sakura bit her lip. "I can't tell you. It's private."

"Oh."

"You could ask Shikamaru, though," she offered.

Naruto nodded and smiled. _Hm. I wonder what Shikamaru and Ino could be fighting about. Are they fighting? Or what? Why would Shikamaru care? I mean, Ino can fight. Unless there's something in this world that prevents her from fighting._

As Naruto ran conspiracy theories through his head, the couple worked their way to the restaurant district. The pair rounded the corner and was immediately assaulted by a pair of huge, dark eyes and a single eyebrow. Naruto jumped and almost shoved Sakura behind him, but he realized who it was.

_Huh? Where's the jumpsuit and weird haircut?_

"Hello, friends!" Lee grinned at them. "Will you try one of these delectable treats?" He shoved a plate of food samples under Naruto's nose. "They are most enjoyable and delicious, not to mention nutritious!"

The blonde reached up and picked up one of the samples. "Thanks, Lee." He popped it in his mouth and made Lee's eyes water with happiness.

"No, thank you, Naruto," he effervesced. "You have made my day worthwhile! You are a good man!"

Naruto finished eating the thing he'd taken. _Huh. It's actually not too bad. I wonder what it __is?_"Hey, Lee, what did I just eat? It was pretty okay."

Lee beamed at him. "It is the most excellent Zucchini and Squash Wrap of Saffron Delight!"

Sakura snorted as Naruto frowned. "Zucchini and Squash? What kind of foods are those?"

"Vegetables!"

Naruto paled. "What?" _Zucchini? Squash? Vegetables? I just ate vegetables! Gaaaaah!_

The Chuunin cast about for a place to wash his mouth out, or vomit. Preferably vomit.

_I need to get the vegetables out of my system! I ate too many last night when Mom forced me too!_

_The Zucchini and Squash Wrap of Saffron—_

_Wait! What the hell is saffron?_

Sakura laughed. "Oh, Naruto, relax. Its just—" She giggled. "—zucchini and squash!"

Lee sent a confused look between the two. "What is wrong? Vegetables are the most nutritious things on the planet! They will make you strong and a great ninja!" He offered a hundred-watt smile and more strange vegetable combinations.

Naruto eyed the plate that Lee was still holding. "_All_ of the stuff on there is made of—" He shuddered and gulped. "—vegetables?"

Bushy Brow nodded enthusiastically.

Naruto took a large step backward.

Lee expounded on the virtues of his Plate of Amazing Vegetable Dishes. "Yes, all made by me to improve the performance of the excellent ninjas of the most wonderful Village Hidden in the Leaves! You see—"

Naruto tuned out his ramblings, as usual. _Well, at least Lee _acts _the same, even if he dressed weird. Where is the green spandex, anyway? Maybe in this world, Gai never got his "youthful" claws into Bushy Brow._

"—and you can buy them all, at a discount price!"

_Is he talking to me? _"Oh, great, thanks. I, uh, know that my brother _loves_ vegetables, so I'll send him to you." Naruto smiled and nodded. Hehehe_, take that Kenji!_

Lee's eyes brimmed with tears. "Thank you, you are most wonderful! But will you not buy some now?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Four words, Bushy Brow—"

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded him. _Oh, right, she's never heard the nickname before._

"—Lee," he amended. "Veggies bad. Ramen good."

It was Lee's turn to wrinkle his nose. "Ramen contains many, many fats and nutrients in extremely unhealthy quantities!"

"Lee!" Naruto interrupted before he could continue. He clapped a hand over the other boy's mouth. "Do _not_ offend the Ramen Gods!"

"Ramen Gods?" Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed, as if to say, _Why am I going out with this ramen freak?_

"I will not offend the Ramen Gods if you will not offend the Vegetable Gods," the other boy offered.

The blonde considered this. "I won't say anything out loud."

Lee gave a swift nod. "Agreed. Now, when can I expect your brother?"

Naruto shrugged. "I have a doctor's appointment, but I don't know if he'll be there, but I'll tell him as soon as possible. Trust me!" He threw his left arm out (Sakura was hanging on his right), stuck up his thumb and smiled so brightly his teeth _ping_ed.

Lee stared at him. "Your smile is blindingly brilliant, but is that pose supposed to mean something to me, Naruto?"

He lowered his arm. _Are you kidding me? Lee doesn't know the Nice Guy Pose? _"Lee, that's the Nice Guy Pose."

"Ah, excellent." Lee beamed. "What is the Nice Guy Pose?"

_What is this?_ "Lee, are you kidding? You taught me the Nice Guy Pose; anything said in the Nice Guy Pose can be trusted, no matter what!" Naruto stared at Lee. Surely this world couldn't be that different. _Hey, why not? Sasuke and Sakura are totally different, why not Lee, too?_

"Truly?" Bushy Brow grinned. "That is a most wonderful pose, then, Naruto!" Suddenly, he frowned. "But you said that I taught you that pose? How can that be?"

"Because Gai-sensei taught it to you," Naruto explained. _Maybe he's having memory lapses, too._

Lee stared blankly and Sakura put her hand to her forehead.

"Who is Gai-sensei?"

_No._

_No freaking way._

"You don't know who Maito Gai is?"

Lee's eyes lit up with recognition. "Maito Gai!" Now he grimaced in confusion. "But he cannot teach anyone such a thing."

Naruto frowned. _What now? How much weirder could this world get? _"Why not?"

"Naruto . . ."

He glanced at Sakura, who had a pained expression on her face, then back to Lee, who was looking at him very, _very_ strangely.

"What? Why can't Gai teach the Nice Guy Pose?" He shrugged. "It's not like he's armless or something." A sudden thought struck Naruto. "Is he?"

Lee shook his head. "No, he still has his arms, he just has arthritis in his hands."

_ARTHRITIS! GAI!_ _"Arthritis?!"_

Sakura sighed and began to tug him past Lee. "Yes, Naruto, now come _on._"

Naruto dug his heels in. "Wait, that means he can't be a ninja."

Lee nodded sadly. "Yes, five years ago, he was subjected to a jutsu that gave him early-onset, rapidly degenerating arthritis. He can barely move his hands." The young man's eyes nearly overflowed with tears.

_Well, that explains the lack of spandex._ "So, who's your sensei?" Naruto wondered.

"Sensei?" Lee stared at Naruto again. "What are you talking about?"

Sakura pulled hard on Naruto's arm, but she wasn't that effective. _Guess she never got training from Tsunade. Back home, she'd have thrown me halfway across the village._ "Naruto, let's _go _already."

Naruto ripped his arm out of her grasp and faced the other boy. "Who was the sensei for your Gennin squad when you graduated the academy?"

_"Naruto!" _Sakura hissed.

Lee took a step back, his lips trembling. "This is not funny. I never expected you to joke about something like this, Naruto."

_I am rapidly losing my patience. _

_What patience? I never have patience._

_Well, whatever patience I do have is gone by now._

Naruto ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "When a student graduates from the Academy—"

"I never graduated! Stop this!"

Naruto froze. _. . . never . . . graduated . . . _"Lee—"

The other teen's eyes were again overflowing with tears. "I failed the test ten times! After that, the instructors kicked me out!"

"No, no." Naruto shook his head. _This is too much! _"You _did _graduate! You did!"

"NO! I did not!" Lee stepped back.

Naruto grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Lee, you graduated! You were the first and _only_ student to graduate with taijutsu alone!"

"Why are you doing this?"

The blonde stopped at the look in his friend's eyes.

"You _know_, everyone knows that my one dream was to be a ninja, but I could not!" A river of tears flowed down Lee's cheeks. "I was useless as a ninja! I could not perform any kind of jutsu, much less taijutsu!"

Lee met Naruto's eyes. "I was expelled from the Academy! I am not a ninja!"

Naruto turned around and walked away. He vaguely felt Sakura trying to grab at his arm, trying to speak to him, but he shoved away from her and sprinted away at top speed.

_Lee . . ._

_not a . . ._

_ninja? _

Naruto stopped and sat down.

_Okay, this is too much to take in. _

_First, Sasuke, then Sakura, now Gai and Lee?_

_Man, this world sucks. _

Naruto rubbed his head.

_How—how can Lee not be a ninja?_

_How? _

_This just doesn't make sense. _

_Lee is the greatest Taijutsu expert on the planet, except maybe for Gai._

_But even __Gai's__ not a ninja, not anymore!_

_He has arthritis! _

Naruto buried his face in his hands.

_How can Gai have arthritis?_

_What kind of stupid jutsu causes arthritis?_

_And how could Gai fall to it?_

_He's an incredible ninja._

_Last I checked, he was up 83-81 over Kakashi. _

_ARTHRITIS!_

_What would that dumb jutsu be called, anyway?_

_Stiff Hands Forever Jutsu?_

Naruto snorted with laughter.

A little conversation began with the voices in his head. One voice was the Voice of Sense, which is not often heard in the blonde's head; the other was Everything Else, which was trying to assimilate this new world.

_**This is not funny. I should not be laughing.**_

_But, Arthritis Jutsu? Seriously? __Hahahahahaha_

_**Stop! Gai is not a ninja and neither is Lee. This is serious!**_

_Hahahahahahahaha_

_**Ah. I see. **_

_**I'm hysterical. **_

_Hahahahahahahahaha_

_**This is simply too much for my mind to handle. Well, at least it backs up the whole broken brain thing. **_

_Hahahahahahahahaha_

_**Well, I hope someone finds me soon. I think I'm in the middle of a cemetery. **_

The Voice of Sense sighed and watched Everything Else continue to laugh. Suddenly, Everything Else stopped.

_OW!_

_**What?**_

_Somebody slapped me!_

_**Well, quit laughing and respond!**_

_Oh, yeah._

Naruto raised his head to see a large hand coming at his face.

SLAP!

The Chuunin fell back and clutched his face. "Hey!" He scowled up. "What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, shouldn't I be asking that?"

Naruto opened his eyes to see the green-haired boy from the Gennin team picture standing above him.

"You!"


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 10

"You!"

Greeny raised his eyebrows. "Me? You!"

Naruto scrambled to his feet and rubbed the side of his face. "Why'd you slap me?" he demanded.

"Cause you were laughing like a loon?" Vegetable Hair responded, putting his hands on his hips. "Why were you laughing?"

Naruto made a face. "None of your business."

The other boy leaned back on his heels. "Yeah, it pretty much is."

"Says who?" Naruto insisted, getting in the shorter boy's face.

"Well, gee," Greeny replied, tapping his chin with his forefinger. "Only your dad, who would happen to be the _Hokage,_ and Obito, who is our sensei!"

Naruto made a face in Greeny's face. "Yeah, well, _I'm _saying its none of your business! So back off!" He shoved Vegetable Hair out of the way and tried to storm past him.

"You don't outrank either of them!" he shot back, grabbing Naruto's arm.

_I am not in the mood for this! _Naruto spun around and took a swing at Greeny. He grinned at his fist connected. _Okay, maybe I am. _

Each boy backed off. "Look, I don't want to fight!" Greeny snapped, but dropped into a fighting crouch nonetheless.

Naruto followed suit. "Well, I kinda do, so fight or leave!" he snarled. _Hm. Sakura would probably say something about this being an outlet for stress or something. _

Greeny drew out a kunai.

"Hey! Knock it off, you two!" This vehement protest was accompanied by a series of barks.

Naruto spun around and glared at Kiba and Akamaru. The boy and his dog were standing about fifteen feet off. Kiba had his arms folded and Akamaru was in fighting position. "Stay out of it, Kiba," Naruto shouted. He turned back to Vegetable Hair.

The two began to circle each other slowly.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Kiba demanded.

Greeny shook his head, never taking his eyes off Naruto. "I dunno. I found him laughing hysterically and slapped him out of it." He shifted his grip on the kunai. "He's been in a pissy mood since."

"Look, knock it off, or I'll—"

"You'll what, Kiba?" Greeny snarled. He feinted forward, but Naruto didn't fall for it. "Go get sensei? Yeah, go get him."

Kiba shifted indecisively. Akamaru growled, then said, "No way! We have to break them up before they hurt each other. Come on, Kiba."

The huge white dog prepared to charge, but Kiba shook his head. "No, Akamaru. Ryu's right, we need sensei." He sprinted off.

_Huh? Since when is Kiba a __wuss_

Akamaru stared after him. "Kiba!" With a growl, the dog chased his master.

_Back to the fight. So, this guy's name is __Ryu__, huh? _

"Well, Ryu," Naruto said. "Why don't we get this over with so that I can get out of here?"

Ryu narrowed his eyes. "And just where would you go? I don't know what's wrong with you, but I'm not leaving you alone."

Naruto snarled and threw himself forward. "Why do you care?"

Greeny blocked the punches the other boy threw. "Why do I care?"

"Do I detect an echo?" Naruto brought his knee up.

Ryu dodged the blow and swung his foot in an arc. "Because I'm your teammate—" He paused to grunt as a single blow connected with his stomach. "And I'm your friend! Even though you're punching me!"

Which indeed Naruto was doing, since he had managed to pin the other boy and was now trying to slam his fists into his face. Ryu was managing to block the majority of them.

_Oh, man. Something's wrong with me. I should be able to beat him! No problem!_

Suddenly, Naruto was flying off of Ryu. _Gah! Who is this?_ Naruto flipped and landed on his feet.

_Hm. This guy who threw me must be good. I didn't sense him coming. _

The man stood between the two boys. He had dark hair and dark eyes, as well as a scar sliding from his right cheekbone to his chin. A pair of goggles hung by his side and a senbon needle drooped out of his mouth. The man wore black pants and a sleeveless shirt beneath his vest.

Ryu sat up, rubbing up his chin. "Uh, I found him," he offered.

The man laughed. "No, really. What were the two of you fighting about?" He helped Ryu up, glancing back at Naruto.

Naruto shrugged a shoulder. _Okay, Naruto. Gotta snap out of it. Calm down. _He took deep breaths. _Not helping. _

"Naruto?"

The blonde Chuunin opened his eyes and glared at the man. "What?"

The man raised his hands. "Just asking how you are, don't bite my head off."

Naruto folded his arms. _What's wrong with me. I'm acting like a brat again. _"I'm fine."

"Not from what I heard from Minato-sensei."

_Minato-sensei? Oh!_

_This must be Uchiha Obito, my sensei!_

"Naruto," Obito frowned. "You're looking kinda pale."

_Gah! Get it together, Uzumaki! _Naruto shrugged. "I'm okay. The fight just wore me out, that's all."

If anything, Obito's frown deepened. "The fight wore you out? You must be worse than I thought."

_Okay, that backfired._

Obito turned to Ryu. "How did you find him?"

Ryu brushed his pants off. "I heard him laughing."

"Laughing?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah, all hysterical-like. I had to slap him to get him out of it."

Obito eyed his student with distinct concern.

_Try to act normal_.

"I, uh, heard a funny joke and just got the punch line?" Naruto gave a cheesy grin and rubbed the back of his head.

"Riiiight." Obito took the senbon out of his mouth and rubbed it between his fingers. "What time is it?"

Kiba, who had returned with the man, sniffed the air. "About eleven-ish."

"Let's go to the hospital, see if we can get your appointment moved up," Obito said. He walked past Naruto, still rolling the needle in his fingers.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I don't need to go yet." _I need to get somewhere and think. I need to be alone. _

"I just need to find a good place to, uh, meditate," Naruto said. _Pleeeaaase__, just let me GO! _

His teammates and sensei gave him strange looks. "Since when do _you_ meditate?" Obito wondered.

"Ah, when I started having headaches, I asked my dad to teach me to meditate. They helped for a while." _Well. I'm really getting better with my lying skills. _

Obito seemed to accept this. "I want to tell your dad about this."

Naruto nodded. "I'll be in the woods." Before they could ask any questions, Naruto sprinted off.

He ran to the forest, like he said and fell to his knees.

_Okay, I need to calm down._

A hand landed on his shoulder.

"I've been trained to follow your dad when he moves at full speed," Obito said. "You think you can get away from me?"

_I am _seriously _losing my patience!_

_Why can't you just— _

_"Leave me alone!" _

Obito didn't move. His eyes widened, though. "Okaaaaay. . ."

Naruto scrubbed his face with his hands.

"Naruto," Obito said. "I'm taking you to the hospital _now,_ okay?"

The Chuunin shook his head. "No, I don't ne—"

The hand on his shoulder tightened and the world went black.

-break-

Naruto wrinkled his nose. Wherever he was smelled like a hospital. _Hospitals smell like crap. _He thought and rolled over.

_Wait a minute. _

_This . . . isn't my bed. _

_I _am _in a hospital!_

_Oh . . . I think I remember . . ._

_"OBITOOOO!"_

Naruto roared in anger as he sat up in the bed. He vaguely heard voices from the other side of the hospital room door. He recognized Obito's, Ryu's, his father's and—was that Kakashi's?

"I think he's awake now."

"No, really, Uchiha?"

"I also think he's mad at me."

"Again, Captain Obvious . . ."

"Maybe if you hadn't knocked him out, Obito . . ."

"Well, I had to, Minato-sensei. You didn't see how he was acting."

"It's true, Lord Hokage. I found him pretty hysterical in a cemetery."

"Minato-sensei, maybe someone should go in there."

"Good idea, Kakashi, I vote for you."

"You're his sensei, Uchiha."

"You came up with the notion!"

"Boys! Knock it off! I'll go in."

The door opened and Minato walked in, looking very hassled.

"You're an idiot."

"Ah, shut up, what would you have done, Kakashi?"

"Something better than this."

"Hm. Offer him a drink?"

" . . . that's not funny."

Minato rolled his eyes. "Don't mind Kakashi and Obito."

Naruto flopped back down. "I want to leave."

"Nope."

Naruto closed his eyes and prayed for patience. "Why not?"

Minato walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Well, the blow Obito gave you knocked you out for a few hours. Its about three, anyway."

The Chuunin glared at his father. "You sound cheerful."

"Well, it solves several problems."

Naruto rolled over. "Fine. Do the doctors need to do any tests?"

"They, ah, ran scans and such while you were unconscious," the Hokage explained, scratching the back of his head.

He rolled back over and sat up. "So, what's left for me to do?"

Minato waited several moments before opening his mouth. "Pretty much just get the results," he admitted.

Several seconds of silence followed. "Do you know what was wrong with you today?"

Naruto shrugged. _Well, at least I don't have to lie now. _"I don't know. I was in a fine mood, then I ran into Lee. Everything just went downhill from there."

Minato ran his hand through his hair. "It certainly seems out of character for you."

"I know."

"As soon as your mother gets here, we'll go over the results with the doctor, okay?"

Naruto nodded, staring up at the ceiling. _Huh. This room is much nicer than the ones I usually get when I stay here. _

A few minutes of staring at the ceiling and Naruto was bored. _Crap. I need to think. I meant to get away and "accidentally" miss the appointment to they'd have to reschedule. _

_They won't find anything in my brain. This is bad. Should I tell the truth? Should I keep lying?_

_I don't think I can get back on my own. _

_Grrrr__! What am I going to do?_

The door opened and Meara, Minato, and a strange medic-nin walked in. The medic-nin held several large folders in his hands. His parents took stations on either side of Naruto, Meara sitting and taking his hand in hers, Minato standing with his hand on Naruto's shoulder. _What a cute family picture._

"Well?" Naruto snapped. "What's wrong with me?"

The medic-nin shifted his feet. "We, uh, we're not quite sure."

Minato's hand tightened on Naruto's shoulder. "Not . . . quite . . . sure?"

The medic-nin pushed his glasses on his nose. "Ah, well, uh." He stuttered.

His hand tightened to the point of pain. "What is it?"

"We, uh, ran some tests," the poor man mumbled. He ran forward and handed one of the folders to Minato.

"That's good," the Hokage said in a carefully quiet voice. "Now keep going."

The medic-nin muttered something into his chest.

"Speak up," Minato ordered.

The medic-nin nodded. "Well, ah, the tests indicated that there was noth—I mean, no phys—ah—"

"Spit it out," Minato snapped.

"There was no tumor or growth or anything," the medic-nin stammered. "There was no unusual pressure or really any physical reason for the problems."

_Crap! Now what!_

Meara studied the results of the test, a small frown on her face. "So, if there's no physical reason for his headaches and memory lapses, why is he having them?"

_Crap! Crap! Crap!_

_What do I do? How do I get out of this one? _

_Man, they're gonna find me out._

_Maybe I should just tell the truth. _

_But if this is a genjutsu, any slip on my part could cost me my life. _

_What do I do?_

The medic-nin grimaced and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We did detect some, ahm, some_thing_, that was abnormal."

". . .abnormal." Minato repeated the word slowly.

"Y-yes," he stuttered again. "We are unsure as to what exactly it is."

Meara interrupted. "I thought you said there was no tumor or anything like that."

"Well, there isn't," the medic-nin conceded. "But some of the readings were extremely unusual. So I recommend more tests, specifically—" He rattled off a bunch of words Naruto didn't really understand and wasn't listening to.

_Abnormal? Abnormal! What's abnormal in my brain?_

_I just told that lie to throw them off. _

_Is there something really wrong with me? _

"Naruto?"

He raised his head to look at Meara. "Yeah?"

"How do you feel about all of these new tests, honey?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, anything that will help me get better," he agreed.

"That's good," the medic-nin encouraged. "this is something that we've never really seen before, so you might need a lot of, ah, patience."

Naruto rubbed his forehead. "Well, then, today might not be the best day, okay?"

The medic-nin—_What's his name? I don't think I ever found out this guy's name—_nodded enthusiastically.

"What's your name?" Naruto wondered.

Meara stroked her fingers through his hair. "We told you, Naruto. His name is Dr. Amuki. He's a specialist."

Naruto scowled. "I'd rather have the Old, I, uh mean, Tsunade, look at me," he snarled.

The medic-nin stammered something about how it was impossible. "She-she's in jail, Naruto. T-too many gambling debts."

_"What!"_ Naruto snapped straight up. "_What!"_

He was pushed back. "Naruto," his father said. "You need to _calm down_."

"But-but Granny Tsunade—she's in _jail! _She cant be in _jail!"_

"Naruto, Naruto, clam down."

"No way! She's one of the Sannin! She could break out of that jail easy, no problem!" Naruto shoved his father's arm off him violently. "_GET OFF ME!"_

Immediately, it was back in place. "Naruto, if you can't get control of yourself, the medics will have to sedate you."

_Okay, this is ridiculous. He's right! You need to _CALM DOWN. _Get __ahold__ of yourself. How many times have I said that today?_

Naruto buried his hands in his hair and brought his knees up, resting his elbows on his kneecaps. He took several deep breaths to calm down while someone, presumably his mother, rubbed his back in a gentle circular motion.

"Naruto?"

He sighed, all of the fight suddenly gone, leaving him drained and with a headache. "I just want to go home."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 7

_Well, this wasn't the home I meant, but it'll do for now._

Naruto threw his arm over his eyes and sighed. He was in his bed back "home." His parents had taken him home after the doctor's appointment. Naruto had gone straight to his room and lied down on the bed.

Once, his mother had knocked on the door and asked if he wanted anything for supper. Naruto had answered "no." It was now after eleven o'clock at night.

_The doctor's appointment went swimmingly. _Naruto thought. _It appears that there actually _is _something wrong with my brain. _

He sighed again, deeper than the last time.

_I wonder what's __wrong?_

_Maybe its a result of the power surge, literally messing with my head._

_It could be an aft__er-effect of having a demon living__ in my body, but there were no other physical signs of Kyuubi._

_Probably its a part of this trap or whatever this is. _

_Whoever's watching me saw this and decided to make me worry._

Naruto rolled over and punched his pillow hard.

_And what was that crap about Tsunade being in jail?_

_No jail is enough to hold her! _

_She can punch through anything, and even if for some reason she couldn't, Jiraya would come if she promised to buy him sake. _

_This world is so messed up!_

_I hate it!_

Naruto's pillow exploded. He didn't even realize he was punching it that hard. With a sigh, Naruto got up to look for another one. He passed by the staircase to his parents' bedroom and heard their voices drifting down.

"–is wrong with him?"

His mother sighed. "I don't know. When he started acting weird, my first thought was that it was some kind of trap or he was a spy, but this . . ."

"Well, at least be glad it isn't an enemy."

Meara didn't reply.

"Meara, don't tell me you'd rather . . ."

"If it were an enemy ninja or something at least I could _fight_ it. This . . . this, whatever, this _abnormal_ reading in his head . . . I can't fight it."

"Meara, if it were an enemy, he could be dead."

"I know, but . . ."

"But, what?"

". . . I feel helpless."

"Helpless? That's what this is about? Meara, darling . . ."

"I'm his mother! I should be able to protect him! Something is hurting my son, my child. I want to kill it! I want to make it stop so he's okay! I want to fight this thing that's hurting him, but _I can't!_ . . . I can't protect my own son."

"Meara . . . you don't think I feel helpless, too?"

"When something is wrong, when my family is threatened, I destroy the threat. I use my fists or my chakra to stop it. I can't fight this . . . _I feel helpless_."

Naruto grabbed a pillow and went back to his room.

He went to get into his bed, but there was already somebody there.

"Raidon?"

The little boy poked his head out from under his covers. "Hi."

Naruto sat on the edge of the bed. "Why aren't you in your room?"

Raidon shrugged and snuggled under the blanket. He mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"You didn't come to dinner and Mommy and Daddy are fighting." His big green eyes watched Naruto intently. "I'm scared."

Naruto sighed and climbed into bed with him. _I never thought I'd have to comfort the kid like this. _"Don't be scared."

"Are you sick?"

"I don't know. The doctors have to run some tests to find out."

Raidon buried his face in Naruto's chest. "I hope you're okay."

Naruto sighed and began to gently stroke the boy's hair. "Yeah, me too."

-------------------------------------------

The day was bright and clear, so bright and clear, in fact, that it hurt Naruto's eyes. He put a hand up to shield them as he walked with his mother to the doctor.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" she wondered.

Naruto shrugged. "Nah, the sun's just bothering my eyes, that's all." Noticing his mother's worried look, he sighed. "Look, not everything is a symptom of whatever's wrong in my head. My eyes are just a little sensitive, that's all." He grinned.

Meara smiled back. "Yeah, your father's eyes are like that too, sometimes. All that blue doesn't hold up well against the sun."

_So, his eyes are sensitive, too?_

Naruto made a face as they walked into the hospital. He really didn't want "Dr. Amuki" to be poking and prodding him. It had been three days since his last visit, but he still didn't like the man.

"I'd rather have Tsunade," he muttered.

"Naruto?" Meara asked.

Naruto bit his lip. "What happened to Tsunade? Why hasn't she busted out of jail? Or why hasn't Jiraya gotten her out?"

Meara stopped to check him in and she explained as a cute nurse led him to a part of the hospital he'd never been in before. "Well, Tsunade had been arrested before and she had broken out before, but something happened that made her, well, lose her will to fight."

Naruto interrupted. "What happened?"

"I'm not exactly sure of the details," Meara sighed. "But her assistant, Shizune, died—"

"Shizune's dead!" Naruto yelled, stopping dead in his tracks. _Woah. No way. Tsunade can heal any wound. How did __Shizune__ die?_

Meara grabbed his hand and tugged him along, indicating to the staring nurse to keep going. "Yes, unfortunately. One of Tsunade's debt collectors showed up and a fight ensued. At one point blood was spilled and Tsunade is hemophobic, so she froze up. While she was frozen, the attacker's partner killed Shizune. Tsunade blames herself for it, so she stays in jail. "

_Wow. Poor Tsunade. I mean, sure, __Shizune__ freaks out a lot, but she's really loyal to Tsunade and she's a good medic-nin. _

_I wonder what happened to __Tonton_

"And as for Jiraya, well, he's in the hospital, getting treated for . . . ah."

Naruto frowned. "For what? What's wrong with him?"

The nurse led him to a room without a window. "Wait here and change into this," she said, handing him a gown.

Naruto held it up. "You've got to be kidding me."

The nurse grinned and winked. "Nope."

Meara's lips twitched. "I think she likes you."

"Shut up. What's wrong with Ero-_Jiraya_?" he wondered.

"Uh," Meara looked at her feet, either trying to remember or slightly. "I think it's temporary, uh, ED from an illness he caught in Rain country."

_ED? _Naruto wondered. _What's that? Oh, temporary erectile dysfunction. __That's perfect!_

"Um, you'll have to come with me until the tests are done," the nurse said to Meara.

His mother smiled and pecked his cheek. "Don't worry, honey."

Naruto grinned to assure her. "I won't."

Once he was alone, Naruto threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, that is so funny! Ero-sennin finally got what he deserved." Shaking his head, Naruto tugged on the gown that the nurse gave him.

Almost immediately, though, he sobered. "Tsunade."

As soon as he was dressed, the nurse came back in. "Ready?"

Unable to summon up a smile for her, Naruto nodded and followed her away, holding the gown closed _tightly_ behind him. She walked through the hospital at a brisk pace, forcing the flaps of Naruto's open gown to go flying. He gritted his teeth and readjusted his grip. _She's doing this on purpose._

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only two minutes, tops, she stopped. Dr. Amuki was waiting in a small, cramped room. "Okay, Naruto, are you ready for the tests?"

Naruto smiled—no, wait, that was definitely a grimace.

--------------------------------------------------

_"Mooooom." _Naruto whined. He was taking a break from the tests.

"Naruto, stop whining," Meara scolded. She was reading a book. "I've heard enough. Now you need these tests so we know what's wrong."

Naruto threw himself back in the chair he was waiting in. _I'd confess just to stop these damn tests. _

He sighed hugely, hoping his mother would notice. When she continued reading, he gave an exaggerated sigh. Again, she didn't notice. He moaned slightly. _Please, just take pity on me! _

By the time Naruto's team walked in ten minutes later, he was constantly moaning and thrashing about.

"Dude," Ryu stared. "What's wrong with you?"

Naruto made a face. "They're running tests on me!" He grabbed Ryu by the front of the shirt. "Get me _out_!"

Obito smiled. "Meara, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She nodded and got up. "I'll be back in a second."

The instant the door shut, the three boys put their heads together. "You really need to get out of here, man?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, yeah," Naruto replied. "These tests are _killing _me. That stupid doctor threatened to put in a catheter for the next one."

Ryu made a face. "Why?"

"I don't know! Something about it taking so long!" Naruto flopped back on the bed.

Akamaru put his front paws up on the bed and licked Naruto's cheek. "We'll getcha out, buddy. Just wait!"

With a face, Naruto wiped the slobber off his cheek. "So, how are we going to do this?"

Naruto eyed his teammates, thinking over their skills. Unfortunately, Kiba wasn't as strong as this world as he was in the real world. He sure didn't have the guts the real Kiba had. But, he knew Akamaru could still transform into an exact likeness of Kiba. That could be helpful.

Now, Ryu, he had learned about just in the past few days. The boy's family was known as the Dragon-tamers and Ryu had confessed his name meant "dragon." Greeny had explained that his family had tapped into the "power of the dragon" as he had put it. Naruto wasn't quite sure what that mean, but it sounded interesting, and powerful.

"Hey, Ryu," Naruto began. "Explain exactly what you mean by the dragon-power thing."

The green-haired boy leaned forward. "Well, we can breathe fire, naturally—"

"Naturally," Naruto agreed.

"—and summon dragons. We can also create protective shields, like scales, around our bodies and sprout fangs, claws and even tails, sometimes."

Naruto frowned. "That's all really cool, and stuff, but I'm not sure how it can help me."

The four—counting Akamaru—thought hard. An idea began to slowly form in his mind. "Ryu," he said. "Can you _sneeze_fire?"

The green-haired boy frowned. "I could make it _look_ like I sneezed fire," he offered.

Naruto grinned. "That'll do." Oh, yes, the plan was coming together in his mind now. "Kiba, could you create a distraction outside?"

Kiba shrugged. "With Akamaru—"

"No, for this plan, Akamaru will be elsewhere," Naruto corrected him.

The boy thought for a moment. "Well, sure."

Naruto's grin widened. "Perfect! Okay, here it is . . ."

-----------------------------------------------

A minute later, Akamaru left the room, tail wagging and tongue drooping.

Another minute later, the small room filled with fire, yelling and howling.

Instantly, nurses flew in and filled the room. Naruto was lying on the bed, burned and moaning. Luckily, Meara and Obito's view was blocked by the nurses.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

Akamaru shoved his way back in, a bundle of clothes in his mouth. He trotted to the other side of the room and dropped them.

As soon as the bundle hit the ground, Kiba howled, at the top of his lungs.

For half a second, all attention turned to him.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, delayed reaction."

The nurses muttered something and turned back to Naruto, but at that moment, Ryu clutched his nose. "I'm going to--aah---AAAHH!"

Kiba pointed at him. "He's going to sneeze fire again!"

At this point, a young, blonde nurse with pigtails shoved him and Kiba out of the room, saying something about, "Minimizing the damage."

As soon as the two boys and the nurse were out of the room, they began to walk quickly away. No one noticed in the pandemonium when the blonde disappeared in a poof of smoke and Naruto, grinning, ran out of the hospital.

Several minutes later, the "Naruto" in the bed poofed away as well, leaving a bunch of confused medics, a frustrated Meara and a very amused Obito.

Naruto leapt down the stairs of the hospital and punched the air. "Yeah! No more tests!"

Ryu grinned. "Alright! That was an awesome plan, Naruto!"

"I have to admire it," Akamaru admitted. "Hey, let's go play Frisbee!"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I have to go get away somewhere, where they won't look for me."

Kiba frowned. "Where are you going to go?"

_To the woods, to see if that box-thing is still there. _"Ah, probably to a training field or something, I'm not sure."

The other three nodded. "Alright. We didn't see anything."

Naruto spun and sprinted through the streets, intent on getting as far away as possible as fast as possible. He hurried up to the heads of the Hokages.

_Okay, when I was up here in the real world, I was on Tsunade's head. _Naruto stood near the edge where Tsunade's head should be.

_Now, I dumped the water on Sasuke's head. _He mimed it and grinned evilly, remembering his friend's reaction.

_Next, I ran into the woods to get away from him. _Naruto spun around and began to retrace his steps.

_Okay, how far did I go? _Naruto wondered.

Naruto closed his eyes. He envisioned his run carefully. As he walked through the woods, the Chuunin marked off things he remembered seeing.

_I passed that tree._

_But not that one, turn around._

_That was on my left._

_I jumped over this root._

Naruto was superimposing the things he had seen during his run five days ago over his current scenery.

_Here._

He stopped and stared at the spot where the thing should be.

There was nothing.

_Crap. I didn't think of this. Sasuke was the one to see it with his Sharingan. _

_How am I gonna find this thing?_

Naruto stood and glared at the patch of dirt that had, in the real world, contained the box thing that sent out the power surge.

_Well, I did trip over it and touch it, so it's gotta have some mass or something. _

The Chuunin did the logical thing—he started feeling around. Naruto got down on his hands and knees and moved his hands in the dirt, making an ever-widening circle on the ground.

There was a very loud sigh from behind him. "What are you doing? You're so . . . troublesome."

Naruto grinned and spun around on his knees. "Shikamaru!"

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's me." He took a step closer. "Does this have something to do with the thing in your head?"

"Uh, well, yeah, I think," Naruto admitted. _I think it does anyway. __Probably the result of that surge from the box thing_. Before Shikamaru could question him about it, he asked, "How did you know about my problem?"

Shikamaru reached down and helped the other boy up. "Your dad told my dad about it."

"Oh."

"Speaking of dads," Shikamaru continued. "You realize that yours is tearing apart the village looking for you?"

"Really?" _Nobody's ever really looked for me before. They all assume I can take care of myself._

_Which I can._

_But, still, I guess __its__ a nice feeling, knowing somebody's looking for me._

Shikamaru nodded. "Yep. He was not happy when you 'escaped' from the hospital."

Naruto shuddered just thinking about it. "You would've done the same thing," he assured Shikamaru.

"Nah. Too much work." He sighed. "Come on. I have to take you back to the city."

Naruto grinned as they began to walk back. _Well, at least __Shikamaru's__ the same. That's a relief. _

The boys walked in silence. Naruto barely refrained from glancing over his shoulder. _I need to get back to that spot._

"I need to send up a signal now to let everyone know I've found you," Shikamaru explained. He did so and in an instant, five ANBU, two Jounins and the Hokage appeared before him.

Naruto grinned sheepishly and waved at his dad. "Hi, Dad."

Minato growled low in his throat and waved the others off. Once they were gone, he stalked over to Naruto. "What were you _thinking_?"

"I had to get out of there! You don't get it! There were so _many_ tests!" Naruto continued in this vein for several minutes, until Minato cut him off.

_"Stop!"_ The Hokage reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, recently healed, although it wasn't quite as straight as before. "Do you have any idea how angry your mother is?"

Naruto stopped. "Angry?"

"Yes. Once I explained to her that it was some trick with shadow clones, she went from terrified—which _I_ am angry at you for; don't_ ever_ do that to her again or I will kill you—to enraged, which I might kill you for anyway. She nearly re-broke my nose."

Shikamaru sighed and put his hands behind his head. "You're in trouble, dude."

Minato scowled at his son. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Naruto chewed his lip. "Uh . . . can I stay at Shikamaru's for dinner?"

Minato sighed and looked to Shikamaru. "Only if I can, as well."

"Why you, too?" Naruto wondered.

"Well, when you pull stunts like this, you're _my_ son. And I'm in just as much trouble as you," he explained with a glare.

The boy blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe."

Shikamaru shrugged. "My mom's staying at my aunt's for a while because she's sick, so there shouldn't be a problem. My dad won't mind."

The three moved quickly through the woods. "So," Minato finally asked. "How exactly did you get out of the hospital?"

Naruto grinned and explained the whole plan in detail. Shikamaru and the Hokage listened intently.

Minato shook his head. "I knew the three of you would be trouble."

"So, why'd you put us on the same team?"

The Hokage gave him a strange look. "You've forgotten this, too?"

_Oh, man. Not again._ "Forgotten what?"

"I was away on negotiations when you graduated and couldn't make the teams myself," Minato explained. "The person left in charge made up all the teams and the other teams were all amazing. You three were the, well, the leftovers, if you will, and got stuck on the same team with Obito as your sensei." He snorted. "I'm honestly amazed the four of you haven't caused more trouble. I wasn't happy when I got back about your team, but there was nothing for it."

Naruto nodded and processed this information. _Those negotiations must have been pretty important for him to miss my graduation and __gennin__ team assignments. _"Is that why there are no girls on our team?"

Minato nodded.

"Wait," Shikamaru said, something suddenly occurring to him. "What is this "Sexy Jutsu"?" he wondered.

The blonde's grin widened as he made the hand signs. "Sexy Jutsu!"

Where a moment ago a five-seven, male Chuunin clad in blue and orange had stood, there was now a curvy blonde girl with strategically placed threads of smoke. She giggled and winked.

Shikamaru's nose exploded in blood.

Minato stared open-mouthed at his "son."

"Well, what do you think?" Naruto asked his father after changing back.

He tried several times to speak, but nothing came out. Finally, he managed. "I knew I shouldn't have done it. I just shouldn't have."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Done what?"

"When you were a kid."

"Done what?"

"Let Jiraya babysit you."

---------------------------------

Naruto, Minato, Shikamaru, and Shikaku sat around the table.

_Good thing I learned how to cook in my apartment, or we would've starved. I can't believe none of them know how to even work a stove. _

He shook his head and put more food in his mouth.

"So, you gonna go home, Minato?" Shikaku wondered.

He shrugged. "I dunno, Kuku. I'll have to call Meara, see how she is."

"Kuku?" Naruto asked.

Minato nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, when we first met as kids in the Academy, I thought his name was Shikuku. The name stuck."

"And Dad's too lazy to correct him," Shikamaru offered.

"Huh." _I wonder if the real Hokage did that, too. Seems kinda un-Hokage-like._

The four finished eating in silence.

"Naruto, you call home," Minato instructed.

He stared at his father. "And how am I supposed to do that without getting yelled at?"

"You're clever, figure it out." With that, Minato walked out of the room.

Naruto sighed and picked up the phone before realizing something. "Ah, Shikamaru?"

"What?"

"Do you know my phone number?"

Shikamaru wandered into the room. "You don't know your own phone number?"

Naruto shook his head. The other boy sighed and rattled off the number. Naruto put his ear to the phone as it rang.

"Hello?"

He swallowed and pitched his voice higher. "Hi, is Tama there?"

"This is she."

With a sigh of relief, he dropped his voice back to normal. "Hey, it's me. Is Mom still pissed at me and Dad?"

"Uh, hold on." Her voice went distant, as though she was shouting away from the phone. "Mom, are you still pissed at Dad and Naruto?"

Very far away, he heard his mother's voice. "Pissed? _Pissed? _Hell, yes, I'm pissed! Is that one of them on the phone? Give it to me!"

Naruto buried his face in his hand. "Crap."

"Who is this?"

"Uh, Minato."

"Don't play games with me, Naruto!"

"Sorry."

"You damn well better be sorry, young man!"

"I am."

"You—stop agreeing with me!"

"Okay."

"Naruto!"

"Yes?"

He heard her noise of frustration. "Where are you?"

"Shikamaru's house. Should Dad and I stay here for the night?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"Okay. We'll be home for breakfast, tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Mom?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry I scared you. And, uh, I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. Bye."

"Bye."

Naruto hung up. He turned around to see his father leaning against the door. "So, you got back in her good graces, huh?"

"I dunno. She didn't seem so angry at the end," he shrugged.

Minato stared at his son.

_Is something wrong with him? _

"Dad?"

He didn't answer, but his eyes wandered over Naruto's face.

_Okay. Maybe there's something wrong with him, too. _

"Daaad?" He waved his hand in front of his father's face.

Minato snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry."

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I just got lost in thought for a minute. Go to bed now."

"Where am I gonna sleep?"

Shikamaru strolled in and poured a glass of water. "Your dad's getting the guest room, so you can sleep on my floor."

"Yay me."

Naruto followed the ponytail-haired boy up the stairs. Shikamaru showed Naruto to his room as he grabbed extra pillows and blankets.

Shikamaru threw the stuff on the floor and moved his desk out of the way so Naruto could stretch out. Finally, both boys were settled.

Naruto tossed and turned for a while. Finally, he did some breathing exercises and drifted to sleep.

-------------------------------------

Naruto slowly opened his eyes.

_What woke me up?_

The room was dark, so that wasn't what woke him.

Voices.

"What are you doing here?"

That was Shikamaru's voice. Naruto listened for another voice, but all he heard was sniffling.

He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes.

"Shikamaru? What's going on?"

There was dead silence for a minute.

"Naruto?!"

Now, he was fully awake.

"Ino?!"

Both asked at the same time, "What are you doing here?"

Shikamaru stepped in. "Ino, Naruto's here because he's in trouble with his mom and she won't let him back in."

Ino sat down on Shikamaru's bed. "Oh. Okay."

"Why are you here?" Naruto wondered. _Does this have something to do with why Shikamaru doesn't want Ino to fight?_

"My dad and I had a big fight," Ino explained. She wiped her eyes and sniffled again. Shikamaru grimaced and rubbed her back awkwardly.

The blonde frowned. "What are you and your dad fighting about?"

Ino and Shikamaru stared at him. "You've forgotten, like, everything, haven't you?" Ino asked.

Naruto shifted and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, um—"

"I'm pregnant!" Ino exploded.

_"WHAT! How did that __happ__—"_

In an instant, Shikamaru was off the bed, his hand clapped over Naruto's mouth.

All three held their breath, waiting to see if Shikaku or Minato had heard. After about thirty seconds and no adult appearing, the teenagers relaxed. Ino's eyes filled with tears.

_Okaaaay__ Since when does _Ino_ cry? The Ino I know would never cry like this. _

"I was sick again because of the baby and that set my dad off and we had a fight and my dad was so angry and—"

At this point, the girl completely broke down and sobbed into Shikamaru's pillow. He shoved Naruto out the door and slammed it behind him.

Dazed, Naruto wandered down to the kitchen.

_Ino's pregnant?_

_Wait! That means her and Shikamaru are going out. _

_For her to be pregnant, that means Ino and Shikamaru had to—_

_AAAAUUUUGH! Mental pictures!_

Naruto sat down and pounded his head against the table in an effort to get the images out.

_Ino's pregnant. That's just—just man, that's weird. _

The blonde Chuunin sat at Shikamaru's kitchen table and stared at the surface of it. After about fifteen minutes, Shikamaru came down.

Naruto raised his head. "How's Ino?"

"She cried herself to sleep," Shikamaru sighed. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "I guess you've forgotten about this, too?"

Naruto nodded.

The other boy sighed. "Man. I wish they'd fix your brain so I wouldn't have to explain all of this. Again. Ino is pregnant, I'm the father. Her dad nearly killed me when he found out. He's still not happy about it and we don't know what we're going to do." He ended it on a sigh.

Naruto ran his hands through his hair.

"My girlfriend's pregnant. I'm gonna be a father. Hell, I'll be the crappiest dad in the world. I dunno how to change a diaper or anything."

Shikamaru paused and sighed. Naruto just waited for him to continue. _Does he ever talk this much in the real world?_

"Her dad hates me, which is causing trouble between him and my dad. They're best friends and every time they see each other, they start fighting. I wish she'd never gotten pregnant. We're not ready and this is hurting my dad."

He finished his glass of water and put it in the sink. With a sigh, the boy started to go back up. Naruto finally found his voice.

"Is there, uh, anything I can do?"

Shikamaru snorted. "Can you go back in time and change what happened?"

_I'm working on it, Shikamaru. Believe me, I'm working on it._


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Naruto stared up at the blank ceiling of the hospital.

He sighed.

"Dad. . ." he whined. _I gotta get out of here. I'm getting too good at whining._

"Stop that." Minato ordered.

Naruto stopped for about five seconds. Then he started again. "But, Dad—"

"_Naruto!"_The Hokage ran a hand through his hair. "You are sixteen and a Chuunin. For the gods' sake, stop whining."

"You would've done the same thing," he insisted, referring to his escapade a few days ago.

The man made an annoyed noise and threw his papers down. "Naruto. I'm stuck here babysitting you because your mother refuses to and none of the doctors trust you for you to be on your own. The least you can do is stop whining and let me work on some paperwork!"

Naruto fell silent. He shut his eyes tightly.

_Why do I care so much that he's angry? _

Deep inside, a lonely little boy's voice answered. _**Because he'll leave.**__** Then I'll be alone again.**_

_That's nonsense. He's not even real._

_**It feels real. **_

_**It feels like a family, a real family. **_

_I have a family, back home. Iruka, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and my friends, they're my family._

_**But this is different.**_

_How? How is this different, or better?_

_**Here, I don't go to sleep or wake up in an empty apartment. **_

_**How many times have I come home from a mission and had no one to tell all about it late at night? **_

_**How many times have I wished to wake up to someone else making breakfast? **_

_**How many times have I lain awake at night and wished for someone to go to, like Raidon did? **_

_**How many times have I cleaned up for just one person? **_

_**How many times have I watched my friends hurry home for supper with their family? **_

_**How many times have I eaten at Ichiraku's just because I don't want to be alone in my apartment? **_

_**This is more than a family. **_

_**This is **_**home.**

_No, its not! Shut up! _

_**If I'd gone missing back "home," would anyone have torn apart the village looking for me? If I'd left the hospital, would the nurses be annoyed or happy that I was gone? Would anyone be sitting here with me to ensure I stayed for tests? Would Iruka take time away from his duties for me, like Dad is? They all know that I can take care of myself, but . . . **__**sometimes,**__** I like to be taken care of. **_

_But he's only here because Mom—_his wife_ is making him._

_**But he's here, isn't he. He's the **__**Hokage,**__** he could've assigned anyone to watch you. But he's here.**_

_**And I don't want him to go. I like having a dad. **_

_**It's nice. **_

_**And if you keep treating him like this, he'll go away.**_

Naruto peeked open an eye. Minato was still sitting there, going through papers. Of what, Naruto didn't know. The Hokage shifted in his seat and tried to get comfortable.

"Dad?"

Minato made a noise of exasperation and looked up. "What?"

Naruto bit his lip. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

Naruto threw his arm over his eyes. "For everything. For scaring you and M-mom, for making you stay here. For getting Mom mad at you."

There were several seconds of silence. Naruto felt his arm being pried away from his face, but he kept his eyes tightly shut. "Open your eyes."

Naruto obeyed.

Minato brought his hand up and cupped Naruto's face. "I forgive you."

"But—"

"Hush," he ordered. "Now, what's wrong?"

Naruto closed his eyes again, unable to face the emotions in the man's eyes. It was more than compassion, it was more than understanding or acceptance. It was the same look that Meara had had in her eyes when she'd told him she loved him. He couldn't face love, not like this. Not when everything in him was aching to accept it, to throw himself into the waiting arms.

"Naruto?"

He wished he could cover his ears as well. There was love in the man's voice.

"Just tell me."

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Tell me."

The blonde withdrew into himself and used his old, childhood weapons. "Just leave me alone! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!" Anger and denial, they always did the trick.

Not so. The hand on his face moved and stroked through his hair. "Naruto, tell me."

Minato paused. "I love you, son."

_Son._

That did it. That broke him. Naruto opened his eyes and met his _father's. __My father's.__ Yeah, anger and denial, always worked, even on __myself__. I accepted this a long time ago. I just . . . didn't realize it. _

"Just spit it out, Naruto," Minato encouraged.

Naruto bit his lip. "I-I'm scared."

There was a pause when Naruto's heart pounded hard in his chest. Then, his father gathered Naruto up in his arms. Naruto managed to hold himself tense, apart for about half a second before giving in. No one had ever held him like this before. Kakashi and Iruka would just make an annoyed noise and complain about slobber on their vests if Naruto ever tried to hug them, which he didn't do very often. Jiraya and Tsunade, too, not exactly the huggable types.

_**See? He's special.**_

Naruto settled into the man's arms, letting his head rest in the crook of his neck. One arm was tight around Naruto's back, the other was still stroking his hair. The man's arms were strong, warm. _My father's._

"Its okay to be scared, Naruto," Minato murmured. The boy felt the vibrations of his father's voice before he actually heard anything. "But everything will be okay."

Naruto held back tears and shook his head vigorously.

_No, it won't be. I'll lose you anyway. How did I let myself get so attached so quickly?_

"Shhh. Shhhh." Minato rubbed his hand over his son's back in a comforting motion. Naruto found himself relaxing again. "The doctors will figure out what's wrong and you'll be fine again."

_Doctors?_

_Oh, that's what he's talking about. _

_He thinks I'm scared about what's wrong with my head. _

_**But I'm scared about losing him. It'll hurt.**_

_Yeah, well, I've survived worse. __Time to get my head back in the game._

_Snap out of it!_

Naruto shifted. "You think so?" he asked.

Minato chuckled. "I know so. You're too stubborn to stay down for long."

The boy pulled back, a purposely wavering smile on his face. "Alright, but you know what would help me get better faster?"

"Ramen?"

Naruto laughed. "Besides that."

Minato scratched his chin. "Hmm. What?"

"Missions?" Naruto asked hopefully.

The Hokage looked doubtful, so Naruto pushed the point. "Please? I'm going crazy without missions or training or anything to do! Please?"

His father was weakening, Naruto could see that, so he gave one final nudge. "It's like being stuck in the Academy all day," he explained.

Minato relented. "Alright—" Naruto cheered. "—but _only if_ the doctor says its okay."

Naruto deflated. _Not likely, considering the way I've been acting in here._

"But," Minato continued. "I will keep my promise of training you once a week."

Naruto perked up at that. "Really, what'll you teach me?"

Minato considered the question. "I don't know. I'll have to think about it."

Naruto flopped back down on the bed, only to spring back up a moment later when the door opened and a certain pink-hair kunoichi walked in. He grinned.

"Hi, Sakura," Naruto chirped. _I haven't seen her since that day when we met Lee. I wonder how she'll react._

Sakura hurried over and smiled at Naruto. "Hi, how are you?"

Naruto shrugged. _She seems okay. _"I'm okay. Bored, though," he added, with an annoyed look at his father, who didn't notice.

"I have a visitor for you," she grinned.

_I don't like the look of that grin._ Sakura turned around and called, "Come on in."

"I have brought a special from the Plate of Amazing Vegetable Dishes to help you heal, Naruto!" Lee shoved a large box in Naruto's face and grinned, striking the Nice Guy Pose.

Naruto stared at him. "You're not mad at me for—"

Lee shook his head vigorously. "No, no, after you left, Sakura explained everything to me. I cannot be angry at you for such a thing."

Naruto looked down at the box on his lap. _Well, at least that's the same. Lee never could hold a grudge. Hey, __Gaara__ nearly killed him and crushed his arm and leg and Lee just forgave him and even tried to help him in the fight with __Kimimaro_"What's this?"

Lee beamed. "It is a collection of my great dishes that are designed to improve healing. When Sakura told me what was wrong, I knew you would need help. I made these especially for you."

"Thanks, Lee," Naruto said. He opened the box and pulled something out. "What's this?"

"It is the first dish you tried," Lee explained.

"Ah," Naruto nodded. "The Zucchini and Squash Wrap of Saffron Delight."

Minato choked on his air.

Lee turned to him. "Would you like some as well, Lord Hokage?"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, Dad, its really great."

Minato gave his son a dirty look.

"You think so, Naruto?" Lee's eyes overflowed with tears.

_Shoot. Now I'll have to eat it. _"Yep, I do." Purposely not looking at his father's smirk, Naruto placed the Saffron wrap in his mouth. _Oh, __my gosh__, I just willingly ate vegetables!_

A river of tears flowed down Lee's cheek. Naruto cringed. _He cries so easily. _"How much do I owe you, Lee?"

Lee shook his head. "Nothing. This is a gift!"

Naruto smiled. "Thank you, Lee."

The dark-haired boy bowed deeply. "You are most welcome, honorable Naruto. Now, I must go. I wish for you to get well and soon!"

Naruto nodded as Lee left the room. Sakura laughed and sat on the edge of Naruto's bed. "So, how much longer are you here?"

The Chuunin shrugged. "I dunno, do you, Dad?"

Minato shook his head. "No, but I can go ask the doctors." He stood up. "Sakura, stay with him, make sure he doesn't try anything, an escape or something, okay?"

Sakura grinned and nodded. "Okay."

The Hokage left the room. Sakura turned to Naruto and leaned in. _Huh? _

Sakura puckered her lips. _Is she going to kiss me?_

Her lips came closer and Naruto panicked. He did the only thing he could do.

Sakura opened her eyes as her lips connected with Naruto's cheek. "Hmm?"

_Normally, I wouldn't mind a kiss from Sakura, but this isn't the real Sakura. This Sakura is still in love with Sasuke. This is just creepy. _

"I, uh, didn't brush my teeth this morning," Naruto muttered lamely. "My breath stinks."

Sakura pulled back. "Oh, okay," she laughed. "That's very considerate of you."

Naruto smiled weakly.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked suddenly. "You look down."

He shrugged. "I'm just sick of being in this hospital, that's all. And I'm hungry."

"Well, how about as soon as you get released, we go out to lunch, we never did get to that restaurant last week," she offered.

"Okay," Naruto agreed. _Here I go, on a date with Sakura. Why does my first ever date with her have to be in this weird universe? Why can't she like me like this in the real world?_

_Well, would I rather she like me but be in really deep denial, or be totally sane and still in love with Sasuke? _

Naruto folded his arms and pouted.

Then, the door opened and Minato walked back in. "Good news, kiddo. You can be out of here as soon as they take a blood sample."

Naruto gulped. _Blood sample? Didn't Tsunade say that there was something funky about my blood because of Kyuubi? _

_But, I can't sense the fox, and there are no signs of him on my body, so what does that mean for my blood?_

"Naruto, you okay?" Minato asked.

The blonde smiled slowly and nodded. "Fine, why?"

"You went kinda pale when the Hokage mentioned the blood sample," Sakura explained.

"Oh, well, I don't like needles," Naruto said. "I mean, who really does?"

Minato stared at the boy. "Okay. The doctor will be in here in a couple minutes."

Naruto nodded. "Okay, then." _Well, at least if they _do _find something funky, I won't have to worry about proving my story. _


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Naruto stepped into the bright light of the spring day.

"Are you feeling okay, Naruto?" Sakura asked, hurrying along beside him. "The doctors said you might be a little lightheaded after giving blood.

"No, I'm fine," Naruto assured her. "I'd like some food, though."

Sakura grinned at him. "Come on, I'll show you the place I like." She grabbed his hand and began tugging him through the streets. _I wonder if we'll actually get there this time, _he thought absently.

He didn't pay any attention to where Sakura was taking him. His mind kept wandering back to the doctor's office. The _stupid _doctor's office. The stupid doctor's stupid, white, sterile office. With his stupid advice and—and stuff. Naruto scowled. He hated the doctor. And his office.

_"Well, you're done for today. We've run every test we have. If these show nothing, we'll have to go in."_

_"Go in?" Naruto had broken in. "Into my skull?"_

_The doctor nodded. "Yes, but don't worry about that just yet. The test results won't be back for a while."_

_"How long?"__Minato__ had wondered. _

_"About two weeks."_

Naruto kicked at a rock on the sidewalk. Two weeks for tests results. At the earliest, the doctor had added with a barely-noticeable smirk. Of course Naruto had noticed it, he'd had plenty of experience deciphering not-really-there-Sasuke expressions.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Oh, no.

_"Will he be able to go on missions?"_

Again, the doctor had flashed that smirk. _"Oh, I'd only give him very easy missions, D or C rank, if that."_

Naruto snarled. _D or C rank, my foot. I am _so _ready for a good, juicy __A__ rank, like Baa-__chan__ usually gives me. _

"Naruto?" Sakura's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You're frowning, what's wrong?"

He shrugged and kicked a random rock, sending it skittering a good twenty feet down the street. "Like I said, I'm hungry," he muttered. He abused the rock again as they came near it.

_That is so unfair. For a week, I've had nothing to do here, except go to the hospital. Man, this world sucks. And I have to wait two weeks for results! That means that if I get back to the real world, I'll have to go through all of these tests again. _

Naruto continued on this vein for several minutes, basically rephrasing the same thing over and over, until Sakura's voice again interrupted him.

"Naruto?"

He snapped out of it and turned to her. "Yeah?"

She smiled. "We're here."

Naruto eyed the restaurant, then calculated the money in his wallet, which was _not _Gama-chan. It was just a regular old wallet. _Can I really afford this place? _he wondered, but didn't have a chance to really ponder it, as Sakura tugged him inside.

"You seat yourself," she explained, dragging him to a table for two.

Naruto slowly sat down. "How do they know we're here?" There didn't seem to be anyone else in the place.

Sakura frowned. "I don't know. But I've never waited too long, so it's never a problem." She pulled a menu out of a small rack on one side of the table.

Naruto followed her lead and looked over the offerings. He sighed heavily, propping his chin on his hand.

Sakura noticed. "What's wrong now?"

He sighed again. "I want ramen."

Sakura sighed, too. "Do you see anything you want here?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Alright, I'll order something for you, okay?"

Naruto nodded and stared at a spot on the wall. _I feel . . . Hmm. How do I feel? What is this feeling? _

_Anger?_

_Ah, no._

_Hmm. Sadness?_

_Nope. _

_Boredom?_

_Oh, yeah._

_That's it._

_I'm bored. _

"Really, really, really bored."

"What?" Sakura asked.

Naruto stared at her. "What?"

She frowned. "You said you were bored," the pink-haired girl explained.

"I said that out loud?" Naruto wondered. _Man. I am so out of it. Did they dope me up at the hospital or something? _

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, you said that out loud." She readjusted her flatware. "What's wrong? Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"What? Oh, no!" Naruto shook his head vehemently. "No, not like this bored. I mean—" He flapped his arms around to encompass everything. "—like, without missions and stuff! I've been sitting around for a whole week, not even allowed to do training, much less any missions! I need _action!"_ Naruto slammed his fist down on the table.

Sakura jumped visibly. Naruto pulled his arm back and uncurled his fist. "Sorry. I'm just a little jumpy, that's all."

"Why don't you talk to your dad?" Sakura suggested. "I'm sure he'll give your squad some missions if you ask."

Naruto made a face. "Yeah, but the doctor said I should only have C or D rank, if that."

"Oh." Sakura bit her lip and cast about for something to say. "Well, that's better than nothing, right?"

The blonde Chuunin snorted. "Yeah, being condescended to and treated like an incompetent fool is better than sitting at home and stewing." Naruto stopped and considered that as Sakura gave him an I-told-you-so look. "Well," he sighed. "I guess so."

"See?" Sakura chirped. "Its not that bad."

Naruto smiled. _That was nice. The real Sakura would have decided the perfect cure to boredom was dodging an endless stream of punches. _

"Oh," Sakura exclaimed. "Here you are."

Naruto looked up, noticing their server had arrived. _Huh. He looks awfully familiar._ The boy looked to be about Naruto's age, with spiky black hair and sunglasses. He was wearing what was apparently, the uniform of the restaurant, black pants with a dark red shirt and pale gold vest. _Where have I seen him before?_

"Is something wrong, sir?"

Naruto snapped out of his concentration when the server addressed him. "No, nothing's wrong." _Gaaaah! Why is he so familiar? Where have I seen him before? Where? Where? WHERE?_

"Naruto, are you sure you're alright?" Sakura asked, leaning forward, her emerald eyes large and worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto answered.

Sakura gave him a worried half smile. "You were just staring at Shino—"

_SHINO!_

"—kinda—Naruto?"

The Chuunin snapped his mouth shut. _Holy crap! __Shino?__ What the hell is Shino doing here? _"Yeah?" He forced his mind back to the conversation. _Okay, focus. Don't give anything away. _"What is it?"

Sakura grabbed his hand, worried. "You went pale for a moment, there."

_Explanation, explanation, explanation! _"I, uh . . . felt, ah—" _Shocked? Amazed? Sick? __Lightheaded?__ Yeah! _"Lightheaded. I just need some food."

Shino glanced between the two of them. "What's wrong with him?"

"He just gave blood at the hospital for some tests," Sakura explained. "Naruto needs food quickly."

The Aburame boy nodded and hurried off with the orders Sakura gave him. She squeezed the hand she still held. "Don't worry, he'll get you some food soon."

_Yeah, that's sorta the problem. _

_Why is Shino a waiter? _

_This world is just too freaky. _

On the outside, Naruto forced a smile. "Good. I'm hungry."

_Okay. I need to find out as much as possible about the status of all my friends so I quit getting surprised by this stuff. __But how?_

Sakura's laughter brought him back to the real world. _Again.__ Man, if not for her, I'd walk around in a total daze today._ "Don't think too hard, Naruto. You might sprain something," she teased.

Naruto tugged his hand from her grasp and folded his arms, pouting. "I don't appreciate that."

She giggled and leaned forward. "Yeah, but you're so cute when you pout."

_GAG. _

_I always thought it'd be nice to hear Sakura say stuff like that, but now, it's really cheesy. _

_She used to say stuff like that to Sasuke when we were Gennin, didn't she. _

_Ugh, no wonder he could barely stand her. _

_I guess I should act like a good little boyfriend. _

Naruto smiled. "What, I'm not cute when I smile?"

Sakura giggled. "You are cute no matter what."

_Cute?_"Cute?" Naruto huffed again. "Why not devastatingly handsome? Super hot? Why cute?"

"Aw, come on," Sakura teased again. "Surely a big, strong, Chuunin like you doesn't need cheap reaffirmations."

Naruto shrugged. "I guess not, but they are appreciated," he answered with a grin. _God.__ How long 'til I can get out of here? I'm choking on the sweetness. _

Luckily, at that moment, Shino came out with their orders. "Here you go."

Naruto grinned and dug in, not really caring what Sakura had ordered. _Hell. I ate Lee's Vegetable dishes, I can eat anything. _

"You must really be hungry," Sakura commented as she ate her food with less haste. "Be sure to chew."

Naruto made some affirmative noises through the mush of food in his mouth, but remembered his manners and didn't actually try to speak, which would have showered the girl with . . . whatever he was eating. _I'll have to ask her what she ordered me. This is good. _Naruto continued to scarf it down, pausing only to take gulps of water.

"Naruto," Sakura said. "Slow down."

With a sheepish grin, the blonde actually did slow down this time, even stopping to ask, "What did you order me, anyway?"

"A chicken dish," she answered, swallowing a small bite of her food. "I forget the exact name. I'll ask Shino when he comes back out, okay?"

Naruto nodded and started eating again. He finished his meal and sat back, his belly full. "This place is good," he commented. "What's it called again?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer.

_"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Naruto leapt up from his seat, his right hand searching for his kunai holster, only to remember his mother had taken all ninja weapons from him in an attempt to limit his escape possibilities. _Damn. _

He searched for the source of the scream, to see . . . Shino?

The usually unflappable boy was standing on a _table_, screaming and pointing at the ground.

Naruto took a slow step toward him. Maybe he was crazy and that's why he wasn't a ninja. "Shino?"

_"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG!"_

_"Bug?"_ Naruto repeated.

Shino nodded and whimpered. Naruto followed the direction of his finger. Indeed, there, crawling across the floor, was a small beetle.

_"Bug!"_ Shino whispered and shuddered.

Naruto stepped on it.

Shino breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, _thank you!" _

_Are you kidding?_

He nodded and plastered what he hoped resembled a smile on his face. "No problem." He dug out his wallet—stupid, regular wallet—he wanted Gama-chan—and handed a bunch of bills to Shino.

"Here, this should cover our bill, keep the change." Naruto turned around and walked out, calling to Sakura that they were leaving.

Sakura followed him. "Naruto," she began. "Listen, you didn't have to leave--"

_Oh, yes I did. _

"--I mean, they never have a bug problem there--"

_That's definitely _not _the problem._

"--that's why Shino took the job--"

_Don't say it._

"--since he's afraid of bugs."

Naruto twitched. _Crap. She said it. _

Luckily, Sakura didn't notice the twitch. She continued to ramble about how clean the place was and how she couldn't believe there was a beetle until Naruto interrupted her.

"Sakura."

She stopped talking. "What?"

"I didn't leave because of the spider. I don't feel well. I want to go home."

_I need to go home. __Desperately._

"Oh, okay." She followed him through the streets, probably to make sure he didn't pass out or anything. At his door, he turned and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks for the food."

"But you paid--"

Naruto had stopped listening; he walked in and closed the door. Sensing no one else in the house, he slumped against the front door, oh-so-grateful to be alone. _That's a change usually I like people. _

He rubbed his forehead. _Okay. I need to find out about the rest of them. Who's a ninja, who's not? Let's see, who have I met so far?_

_Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Lee, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, Tsunade and Jiraya—well, I haven't met them, but I know what's going on._

_So, who does that leave? __Hinata__, Neji, __Choji__, Tenten, Iruka, and well, I heard Kakashi's voice, but knowing this place, there's something wrong with him. _

_Okay, now how do I find out this stuff? _

_Hmmm._

_Well, in my world, they're all ninjas, right? _

_Of course right._

_Well, the Hokage should have records of them if they're all ninjas. _

_But what if some of them aren't ninjas?_

Naruto pounded the back of his head against the door.

_Duh! Of course, if they aren't ninjas, they won't be in his files. Jeez, do I feel stupid! _

Naruto stood up. _Does Dad have an office here? _

_He should. _

_Next question: does he have any records in his home office? _

"Well, only one way to find out," Naruto told himself and walked up the stairs. "Okay. When Raidon gave me the mini-tour the first morning I woke up, he said Mom and Dad's room was on the third floor. So I'll start there."

Naruto wandered up the second flight of stairs to his parents' room. He slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside. The room was big, bigger than he'd expected. It was done in tones of cream, with highlights of brilliant blue. The bed was dark wood, a matching set with the two dressers, armoire and vanity. Naruto wandered around and noticed there was a separation in the wall.

_Ah-ha! _

The teenager hurried through the partition and grinned. There was his father's office. Naruto moved toward the desk and began shuffling through the papers on his dad's desk.

"Hmm," he scowled. "Nothing here, this is all about budget stuff." Naruto made a face. "I guess I'll have to do this stuff if I become Hokage."

He sighed and, finding nothing, decided to go through the desk. _Huh. He leaves his drawers unlocked. That's pretty unsafe. _Naruto opened the first one and found only office supplies like pens, paper clips and extra staples. He sighed and moved on. The second drawer had, what was this, _tax _records?! Naruto came to an uncomfortable realization as he found medical records, dental records and other family-related papers in the desk.

_Crap. All of his Hokage records must be at his Hokage office. _

Naruto sighed and sat in the chair, which was actually very comfortable.

_And __spinny_ Naruto spun in a circle on the chair, laughing delightedly. He'd never been in one before and enjoyed the experience immensely. While spinning, however, Naruto knocked off some of the stuff on his father's desk.

"Oh, crap," he exclaimed. Naruto knelt and began grabbing up the stuff he'd knocked off. There were the budget papers he'd gone through earlier. _I'll have to put these back in or—huh?_

Naruto stopped moving as he saw the last thing he'd shoved off. It was an album, a photo album with lots of pictures.

_Pictures of . . . me? _

He stared at the pictures in the album. There was one that took up an entire page. Naruto picked it up. It was of him and his parents. He squinted at it, then checked the caption at the bottom.

_Naruto's__ (belated)__ Graduation._

"Graduation?" Naruto whispered. He investigated the picture. It was him, when he was about eleven years old, grinning proudly and wearing a very shiny forehead protector. His parents were on either side of him, both beaming.

_Belated?__ Oh, yeah, Dad said that he'd been away at the time. This must have been when he came back._

This picture was in the daytime. At that time, he remembered, he was sitting alone, on a swing, watching other people congratulate their kids.

He thought back to his own "graduation." In the woods, in the middle of the night, Iruka-sensei seriously injured, Naruto just having beaten up his former teacher.

Naruto bit his lip against the rising tide of emotion, of the home feeling. _Okay. That's enough. I just went through this earlier today. Jeez. _

He snapped the photo album shut and replaced it on the desk before standing up and turning around.

"Hey!"

There was a _file cabinet._ Chances were, it held old taxes and medical records and stuff like that, but there was always the possibility. Naruto strode over to it and picked the lock. He went through every drawer until he got to the last one.

_What's this?_

Naruto pulled out the thick manila envelope and sat back. It was different than the rest of the information, Naruto noticed. For one thing, it wasn't labeled. Everything else was labeled neatly and precisely. This also looked very dusty, as if it hadn't been touched in a long time. And . . . it felt different. Naruto couldn't explain it, but this folder gave off a feeling of foreboding.

Swallowing his uncertainty, Naruto opened the folder and pulled out the papers. _A mission report?_The date was November 14, from about ten years ago. Frowning, Naruto pulled the paper up and read it.

_Hatake Kakashi, the genius ninja, and Hyuuga __Hiashi__, the most talented user of __Byakugan__were__ on an S-class mission. The assignment: to infiltrate and destroy a laboratory associated with Sand. The specifics of the lab were not disclosed to either ninja. During the mission, Hyuuga and Hatake were __separated. Hyuuga had been incapacitated by several Sand Jounin, but managed to send a message to Hatake. Hatake had the choice of completing the mission or retrieving Hyuuga. He chose to complete the mission, the last step of which was to destroy the laboratory. Hatake did so, with the full knowledge that Hyuuga was inside. Hyuuga was killed. _

A space below that was a note in his father's handwriting.

_I'm worried about Kakashi. He seems to regret the choices he made. He hasn't been himself lately; several times I've seen him in a bar, just sitting and staring at the drink in his hands. _

Naruto laid the papers back down and licked his lips.

_Woah._

_That's crazy. __Hiashi__ That's __Hinata's__ dad, isn't it? So __Hinata__ and her sister don't have their dad in this world. _

Naruto re-read the paper before him.

Suddenly, he heard a click from downstairs.

_Someone's home._

Naruto jumped up, he stuffed the papers back in and shoved the folder into the file cabinet. Closing it quickly, he heard the door to his parent's room open.

_Crap. What to do? What to do?_

The blonde looked up as his mother walked in. She cocked her head and smiled. "Hey, whatcha doin' up here?"

Naruto smiled and shrugged. "I was looking for Dad and I came in here and saw this." He indicated the album in his lap.

Meara's smile turned especially soft. "Ah, your photo album." She came over and laid her hand on his shoulder. "What did you think of your very first picture?"

Naruto shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. I looked kinda funny."

"I'll say, seeing as how you were a fetus back then," she teased, flipping the pages to the very beginning. There, front and center, was an ultrasound printout.

Naruto squinted at it. "That's . . . me?"

"Yep. That's you—" She indicated a fuzzy spot. "--and that's your sister." She pointed to another fuzzy spot.

Naruto gave her a look. "I really don't see it."

"I know you don't." She stroked her hand through his hair. "I do."

"Moooom?"

Meara kept stroking. "Yes?"

"Is there any way you can talk Dad into giving me a really good mission, really soon?" Naruto tilted his head back and poked his bottom lip out a little bit. _Oh, man. I'm pouting to get my mom to do something. This is weird. _

Meara laughed. "I'll see what I can do. Come down, help me prepare supper."

"I just ate with Sakura."

His mother frowned. "Sakura said you guys ate several hours ago."

Naruto stopped. "Really? I guess I just lost track of time while I was up here." _I'm totally losing my focus when I'm here. I can't afford that. If this is some kind of genjutsu, or trick, which I'm __not__ convinced its not, I need to be on top of my game. I need a mission, or at least some hard training. _

The blonde sighed.

"What's wrong?" Meara asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I just want something to do, like I told Sakura, some missions or _something._"

She chuckled. "I know what you mean. It's hard to sit still for a long time."

"Is that why you forgave me so quickly for breaking out of the hospital?" Naruto shrewdly deduced.

Meara chuckled. "Yeah. I really couldn't fault you when I might've ended up doing the same thing."

Naruto smiled. _It is not gonna be pretty when this ends. I should find a way to sever ties now. _He glanced at his mom. _Well, maybe not now. _

_---------------------------------------------_

The blonde ducked a punch and spun out of the way of a kick, then returned the favor with interest, slamming the heel of his foot right beneath Kiba's solar plexus, knocking the boy back a good ten feet and forcing the breath out of him. He did a back flip to get away from Akamaru's attack, landing on a tree trunk, chakra holding him in place.

_I wonder if this would be a good time to try my new move. _

Naruto grinned and held out his hand, palm facing the dog.

Akamaru growled. "Whaddaya think you're doing, 'Ruto?"

He only grinned and sent out a wave of chakra. Stretching himself into it, Naruto felt the wave hit everything living, the ground, Akamaru, even the bugs in the grass. The wave wasn't enough to even faze Akamaru, but it served its purpose.

"Ha! What was that supposed to do?" the dog snarled.

Naruto focused on what he had felt when the wave hit Akamaru, specifically, where the chakra had come in contact with other strong chakra points. He overlaid that image onto the visual of Akamaru in front of him and grinned.

_It worked! Now I can target his chakra points! _

Naruto grinned and flew out of the tree. Akamaru tensed and pounced, deciding not to wait for the attack. Naruto jumped, flipped, dodged and evaded Akamaru's swipes and bites until he saw his opening.

_Alright, now, put my chakra into my fingers and release it when I hit Akamaru, like Sakura showed me. Not too much, though, don't want to hurt him. _

He leaped forward, putting two of his fingers together, just like he'd seen Neji do.

_Now!_

Naruto pressed the tips of his fingers into Akamaru's side, where he'd felt a chakra point, and could feel it now, and pushed some chakra in, then shoved himself back to avoid Akamaru's decidedly large paw.

The dog shifted his stance. "What was that?" he snarled.

"Why?" Naruto grinned. "Something wrong?"

"NO!"

The teenager grinned even wider and sent out another wave of chakra. Akamaru tried to dodge it, but apparently, something was a little off with his left hind leg.

_ALRIGHT! It's just like hitting a pressure point, except for chakra! Now, Akamaru can't channel his chakra into that leg to give him a boost. _

_Hee__hee__! I'm a genius._

Just then, Naruto felt another presence come up behind him.

_Shoot! I forgot about __Ryu_

Naruto channeled his chakra into his right leg and stomped against the ground, using the chakra in the earth as a springboard to launch himself into the air. From his vantage point, about thrity feet up, Naruto could see Kiba, now struggling to get up from Naruto's blow several minutes ago, Akamaru limping slightly from his new technique, and Ryu, unaffected and in fighting stance.

_Hm.__ Right now, __Ryu's__ the biggest threat. With the blow I gave Kiba, he won't be in shape for another couple of minutes. Huh, he's weak. The real Kiba would have been up and attacking by now, if I'd managed to hit him at all. _

Naruto landed like a cat, crouching to absorb the impact. He and Ryu began to circle each other, with Akamaru hanging back to look for an opening.

With a battle cry, Naruto charged. Ryu grinned and met him halfway. They exchanged a flurry of blows, then parted, panting slightly.

_Okay, what exactly did sensei say?_

_"No direct use of __ninjutsu__ or genjutsu, only taijutsu."_

_Heh_Direct _use, huh?_

_I can work with that._

Naruto spun and ran into the woods. In a second, Ryu was after him, Akamaru not far behind. But a second was all he needed.

Again, yellow and green exchanged blow after blow, each one blocked or dodged by the other. They separated, only by a few feet, each eying the other, waiting and calculating moves.

_From what I've learned from working with him, __Ryu's__ impulsive, impatient. __Easy to goad._

Naruto grinned. "Is that the best you've got, Ryu? Come on, dragon-boy! I'm not even out of breath! My little brother could do better than that!"

"Hey! Take that back!" Ryu shouted. "I'm better than some Gennin!"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about _that _brother," Naruto explained. _Just a little more._"I was talking about the other one, Raidon. He gave me more of a challenge than you."

With a snarl, Ryu charged. "I'll show you!"

Naruto grinned. Ryu had taken about two steps, enough to get some good forward momentum, when Naruto exploded from the ground, fist upraised and cracking hard against Ryu's chin.

_Just like Neji. _Naruto smirked.

Akamaru's eyes widened as he watched the force of the punch carry Ryu up several feet. Naruto took the dog's momentary distraction to destroy another chakra point he'd sensed.

The dog howled in anger and pain as Naruto incapacitated his left front leg. Now, both of Akamaru's left limbs were blocked from his chakra.

_"What is that?" _he snarled, noticeably limping now. _"What did you do to my legs?"_

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. It'll just take a little bit to heal. Actually, Kiba's injuries will take longer than yours."

Akamaru narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? You only hit him once, in the chest."

"Oh, I'm talking about this one," Naruto explained, jumping and spinning, catching

Kiba, who had tried to sneak up on him, in the jaw with his foot. Then, he arched his back and inverted his spin, kicking the other boy again, this time in the ribs. Naruto kicked him opposite ways each time, so in addition to sailing through the air, again, Kiba spun around and crashed hard into a tree.

Naruto smirked. _Kaa-runch__! That'll break some bones, for sure! __Nothing too serious, and its not like we have to worry about going on missions anytime soon._

At this thought, the enthused grin slid from his face to be replaced by an unhappy sneer. _Aren't I proving that I'm perfectly capable of fighting now? I mean, jeez, so far these guys haven't _really _been __a problem. Nothing compared to fighting Sasuke, or Lee, or Neji, or Kiba or really anybody back home. _

A twig snapped behind him and Naruto spun. _Crap! I can't believe I lost my focus again! _

Naruto scanned the forest carefully, but didn't detect anything. _So, they're hiding. Well, they can't hide from this!_

He placed his hands, palms facing out, on either side of him, then created a sphere of chakra around his body. Using the same technique as before, he sent out a strong pulse of chakra, linking it to his sense of touch.

_Okay. I can sense __Akamaru,__ and __Kiba's__ over there by the tree. Hey, I actually knocked __Ryu__ out with that punch. _

_So, who snapped the __twig._

Frowning, Naruto sent out another wave.

_I feel him, now. Who is he? I don't recognize his chakra. It's not Obito, I made sure to learn his chakra signature. _

_He is familiar though._

Naruto lowered the chakra shell and ran to where the other person was.

_Is this part of the training exercise? _

He stopped just before the other man would have seen him.

_If it isn't, I'm the only one able to fight. He picked a good time, three of the team out of commission, and me worn out. _

_He's good, and got lots of chakra. _

_I need to get the others out of here and go get help. _

Naruto made a familiar hand seal and several clones appeared. They sprinted off in the direction he'd come, his instructions perfectly clear.

He went to bite his thumb, then remembered.

_Damn! I can't summon here, this Naruto never signed the scroll!_

_So I don't have the fox, and I don't have my toads. I can't use Rasengan because it'll give me away. _

Naruto resisted the urge to rub his forehead.

_I need to distract him until the clones can get help. But-_

"Come out, boy," the man snapped. "Quit hiding, I know you're there."

Naruto scowled, he'd thought he'd disguised his presence well enough, but stepped out nonetheless.

_"__Mizuki__!"_Naruto shouted, very startled.

The other man frowned. "How do you know my name?"

Naruto clamped his mouth shut. _I don't know him in this world. He was never my sensei! _He scanned the man before him carefully. _So, he's a criminal in this world, too. Just not in jail, he's a missing-nin._

True enough, Naruto could see the long, horizontal scratch made through the leaf symbol on his forehead protector.

"What do you want with me?" Naruto demanded.

Mizuki smirked. "Why bother asking, after all of the attempts on your life, boy? Everyone knows, the best way to get to the Hokage is through his kids. And we hate the Hokage." Mizuki spit the word out each time he said it.

Naruto wondered at the 'we,' but decided to keep it to himself for the time being. "So, what is this? A kidnapping attempt?"

The missing-nin laughed. "Hardly. We want the Hokage to suffer, as he made us suffer!" His visage changed into one of utter hatred and fanaticism.

"You're going to kill me."

Mizuki smiled. "Very good, boy. The Hokage killed our precious people, so we'll kill his."

Naruto felt a stab of fear, not for himself, but for his family. If others of his group were here . . .

Through the telepathic link, he ordered a clone to run ahead at full speed and tell an ANBU to guard the rest of his family. Then, he shifted his feet to a basic fighting stance.

"Try."

Mizuki grinned and Naruto sent out another chakra pulse. _There. __The point on his chest.__ It's connected to his heart. If I can hit that hard, it should kill him. _

Mizuki attacked. Naruto managed to block his blows, although they were much harder and faster than his teammates'. He grinned.

_Alright! A real fight!_

Naruto took this opportunity to let loose, sending his own punches at a speed double that which he used to fight Ryu and Kiba. He landed a few glancing blows, but didn't see an opening to the chakra point on the heart.

Finally, he managed to crash his right hook into the left side ofMizuki's face, raising a large bump immediately. Naruto heard the satisfying crunch of bone. Mizuki countered by swinging his left arm up while Naruto was off balance in the follow-through.

_Damn! I can punch better than this! _The kunai in the missing-nin's grip sliced through Naruto's tricep muscles, making his right arm almost useless.

_"ARGH!"_Naruto forced the pain out of his mind and focused on the fight.

_Double damn! Now I have to use my left hand for the new technique. _

Naruto dropped to a squat, extended one leg fully and swept Mizuki's legs out from under him. The man landed hard on his back, but trapped Naruto's ankle between his legs and flipped the boy over. His right arm flopped limply, hitting the ground and sending repeated shocks of pain through his body.

Both ninjas got to their feet. Mizuki wiped the blood off his chin, but leered. "First blood may be yours, but my hit is deeper."

Naruto didn't respond. _He's right. I only have one working arm. With his level of skills and my arm, I'll only last a little longer. _

_I need to end this now. _

Naruto charged, flipping up into the air and landing on Mizuki's left side. He kicked the side of the other man's kneecap and jumped again, this time slamming both feet into the missing-nin's face. Blood fountained from his nose. Mizuki roared and staggered back, his knee nearly giving out.

Landing, the blonde threw his body forward, spinning so he was facing up. His left shoulder connected with Mizuki's stomach, pitching him forward. Naruto channeled all of his remaining chakra into his fingers.

_Release it all at once and kill the bastard!_

Naruto brought his fingers up, finding the chakra point connected to Mizuki's heart with ease. He shoved his fingertips into it, and forced every bit of chakra he had into Mizuki's body, destroying that point and spreading his destructive chakra out in Mizuki's system.

Beneath his fingers, Naruto felt Mizuki's heart falter.

Naruto's thrust had sent both men back and now, they crashed into a very large, very hard tree. Naruto felt something hit the crown of his skull hard and white spots danced in front of his eyes.

He felt something wet hit his face and opened his eyes to see Mizuki, staring in shock as he spit up blood.

"You—"

Through his fingers, still connected to Mizuki's chakra, Naruto _felt _the man die.

Cold and black overtook Naruto.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Naruto picked at the sling on his arm, unhappy.

"So," Minato began. "Akamaru mentioned you had some new technique that you used against him in the spar." The man was sitting in Naruto's room, fiddling his thumbs.

"Yeah," Naruto responded slowly. _He's acting weird. After that fight yesterday, I expected him to blow up and yell at me. Instead he's asking me about the technique and twitching like Shino's bugs are in his pants._

_Well, if Shino had bugs in this world, that is. _

Minato gave a strained smile. "Well, what was it?"

Naruto shifted. "I sent out a chakra wave, sort of, and it was like radar, I guess," he said, waving his left hand; his right arm was in a sling. "I could sense the other person's chakra points and just matched up the image in my head with the person in front of me. Then, I just pushed all the chakra into my fingers and attacked."

The Hokage nodded. "Interesting. It's almost like a sensory Byakugan."

The Chuunin considered this. "I guess so."

"And that's how you killed Mizuki," Minato said.

Naruto nodded. "I just targeted the chakra point connected to his heart."

"Good work."

Naruto watched his father carefully. "Thanks." _He's too calm. It's like the calm before an earthquake. __Just a little twitchy._

_I don't like it._

"You said in your report Mizuki implied he was part of a group, that there might have been others who felt the same way he did," Minato said.

Naruto warily nodded again. "Yeah. I didn't get a chance to ask him who else, sorry."

Minato nodded. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. Just as Naruto was about to break the silence, he spoke. "Did it ever occur to you that the others might be hanging back, waiting to kill you?"

Naruto blinked. "No."

_"What?_"

"I assumed if there were others, they'd go after Mom, or one of the other kids."

Minato nodded again. "So, you decided to fight him instead of do the logical thing and get help."

Naruto frowned. "I sent my shadow clones."

Minato shook his head. "No, I—I—"

"I held him back, to give the shadow clones and my teammates a chance to get away. What else was I supposed to do?" Naruto demanded.

Minato shook his head. "Nothing. That was the right choice."

Naruto scowled. "Then why are you acting like you're angry?"

His father stood up and began pacing around Naruto's room. At least he wasn't in the hospital, they'd sent him home with his mother, who the medic-nins trusted to take care of him.

Naruto pushed himself up. "Well?"

_"You could have been killed!" _

The teen frowned. "What?"

Minato ran a hand through his messy hair. "You. Could. Have. Been. Killed. That's what they wanted. This wasn't some ninja who you stumbled upon. This man had a grudge against me! He wanted you dead with _everything _in him!"

Naruto frowned.

"You should have left! You should have made the better tactical decision and left!"

"And run away, you mean!"

"Call it what you want! You shouldn't have fought Mizuki!"

Naruto sat straight up and snarled. "You wanted me to run away!"

"I wanted you to be safe!"

"I'm a ninja! I'm never safe! And I _don't run away_!"

"But—"

"What would you have done? If you'd been me? If you'd found out someone was after the people that you loved? Would you have run away or _removed the threat?"_

"You're not me!"

Naruto stood up and faced his father. "That's not the point! Any ninja would have done the same as me, but are you yelling at them?! NO! You're trying to give me special treatment because I'm your son! But DON'T!"

_"Don't?"_

_"_NO! _DON'T!_ I can handle myself just as well as any Chuunin, better than some! I'm not some stupid little Gennin who doesn't know how to hold a kunai! Stop treating me like one!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes! You are! You're acting like I couldn't handle the fight with Mizuki!"

"You couldn't!"

"WHY? Because I'm your _son?"_

_"YES!"_

Naruto pulled back as though he'd been slapped. He narrowed his eyes. "Bull."

Minato closed his eyes. "Naru—"

"Get out."

Naruto turned around and laid back down on his bed, back facing Minato.

The Hokage stood and stared at Naruto's back for a while, then walked out, closing the door behind him.

Naruto bit his lip and rolled onto his back.

_God, I'm tired now._

_Fights with Iruka or the Pervy Sage never tired me out then._

_Of course, I was never this depleted before._

_After that fight with __Mizuki__, I was totally out of chakra. _

_I rely too much on __Kyuubi's__ chakra in the real world. Without his to supplement mine, __its__ not that great. _

_I'll need to work on that when I get home. _

Someone knocked at the door.

"It's just me, Naruto," Tama called.

"Come on in."

Sighing, she sat down on the edge of Naruto's bed.

"You were right, but give him a break, big brother," Tama advised. "He was the one to find you, bleeding, unconscious, cold, lying under a dead missing-nin. You gave him the scare of a lifetime. He wouldn't leave the hospital until they let him see you, alive and well, if sleeping. So, go easy on him."

Naruto sighed and flopped back against the pillows, a little bit of guilt worming its way in. "Alright."

"Promise?"

He smiled. "Promise."

----------------------------------------

_Mizuki__ stood before him, a maniacal grin on his face. The stench of blood permeated the air, soaked into the ground. The air was stagnant and stale. There was no sound except for the beating of hearts. Until—_

_"Choose."_

_Raidon appeared, his big green eyes swimming with tears. __"Naruto!__ Help me!"_

_"Choose."_

_Kenji showed up next to him. He screwed his eyes shut and bit his lip hard, trying to be brave. _

_"Choose."_

_Tama was next, her jaw set, her eyes blazing, a single tear tracking down her face._

_"Choose."_

_Meara materialized. Her hands were folded in front of __her,__ her eyes were filled with that __unnameable__ emotion. "Naruto . . ."_

_"Choose."_

_Naruto's eyes snapped back to __Mizuki__. The sadistic grin split his face. _

_"Well, boy, what's it going to be?"_

_Mizuki's__ sword traveled from neck to neck. _

_"Choose."_

_Naruto froze. _

_Mizuki__ laughed. _

_"Very well.__ All."_

_Mizuki__ raised his sword. _

_Naruto screamed. _

_-----------------_

The sun was shining brilliantly.

The birds were chirping incessantly.

The wind was blowing gently.

All in all, it was a perfectly beautiful day.

_Gods! Make it stop!_

Naruto moaned loudly and tried to roll over, but there was something warm and firm preventing him. He would have thrown an arm over his eyes, but his left was occupied and his right one was still injured. Something tickled his nose and pressed down on his chest. Trying to shift his legs, he encountered something else warm and soft.

Conceding to the necessity, Naruto cracked open one eye and nearly cried as the sunlight hit it full blast. He forced his eyeball to adjust, then scanned his impediments. His mom was sleeping on his right side, why he couldn't roll over. Tama was snuggled into his other side and happened to be lying on his left arm, which was why he couldn't move it. Kenji was curled up by his legs and half on them. Raidon was sprawled across his chest, explaining the nose-tickling and chest-pressing sensation.

"You were having nightmares."

Naruto snapped his eye to his father, who was sitting on the floor right by his bed.

"Huh?"

Minato smiled wearily. "Last night, you kept having nightmares. You would start screaming, so one of us would come in and calm you down. A few minutes after we'd leave, though, the nightmares would start back up. Each time, they'd get worse, until all of us had to be here for you to stop screaming."

Naruto looked over his family, sleeping around him, protecting him, warding against nightmares. "Huh."

"What were they about?" Minato asked.

Flashes of blood and Mizuki sprinted through his mind. He shuddered instinctively.

"It was about Mizuki killing all of you."

Minato nodded. "That makes sense."

"Why now?" Naruto wondered. "Why not the night right after the fight?"

"You were too doped up on drugs to really dream," Minato explained.

"Oh." Naruto shifted, which only resulted in his four human pillows snuggling closer. He made a noise of exasperation and tried again, with the same result. Frustrated, Naruto flopped back down on the pillow.

"Problem?" Minato wondered, amusement in his blue eyes.

Naruto snarled at him. "Shouldn't you be in the Hokage tower?"

He smirked. "Took the day off. You ain't gettin' rid of me that easy, kiddo. Now, what's wrong?"

Naruto sighed. "I have to go to the bathroom."

-------------------------------------

"Be careful, Naruto. The doctor says you have to take it easy, so that means no training or no fighting, so just be careful and don't do anything stupid, okay? Cause, if you do, you might have to go back into the hospital again and then when you have nightmares, we won't be there to chase them away, like we were last night. So, don't wear yourself out because I don't like it when you have nightmares, and I'd have to chase them away and that means I'd have to sneak into the hospital and then Mom would get mad at me—"

"Raidon."

The little blond boy stopped talking and turned to his older brother. "Yeah?"

"I think Naruto gets the picture," Kenji advised.

Naruto nodded when Raidon turned to him. "I understand, I'll be super careful."

Raidon gave one sharp bob of his head. "Good." He reached up and clutched Naruto's good hand.

"So," Kenji said. "Why exactly are we doing this?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't know. Mom just told me to."

"Hn."

_Geez.__Who'd've__ thought a relative of mine would end up having the same catchphrase as Sasuke _and _Neji?_

_Naruto shot a glance to Kenji._

_Well, at least he doesn't give off the stick-up-my-butt attitude. _

_He's just quiet. _

The three brothers stopped walking in front of a very nice building.

"I still don't understand," Kenji muttered.

"Me, neither," Raidon agreed, trying to use Naruto's arm as a rope swing.

Naruto locked his elbow and swung his arm back and forth as Raidon wrapped his limbs around it. "I don't either," Naruto admitted. "But Mom told us to do it, so we're gonna do it."

They sighed in unison, then walked through the door.

Raidon crinkled his nose. "Man, it smells in here."

Naruto sniffed. "Well, I suppose they would have to clean a lot."

Raidon buried his face in Naruto's pant leg and wrapped himself around his leg. Naruto sighed, but let him be. _It really does smell like cleaner in here. __Heh__Its__ worse than the hospital. _

The eldest blonde limped over to the counter, grabbing Kenji's hand and dragging him along. The girl looked up and gave her most charming smile.

"Can I help you?" She batted her eyelashes.

Naruto frowned at her. "Do you have something in your eye?"

"What?"

Naruto leaned forward. "You were blinking your eyes, is something wrong?"

At his side, Kenji rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."

The girl blushed at Naruto's proximity. "No, I'm fine. Thanks. What can I do for you?"

"We need an animal," Naruto explained.

Raidon pulled his nose out of Naruto's thigh long enough to say, "That's why we came here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Kenji's eyebrow twitch a bit.

"Okay," the girl chirped. "What kind of animal?"

The three brothers remained silent.

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

"We don't exactly know," Naruto admitted. "Our mom handed us a bunch of cash and told us to come here."

"Oooookay," the girl said. "Why don't we take a look around, see what catches your eye?"

"Nuh-uh!" Raidon shook his head.

The girl frowned. "Why not?"

"It smells in here," the boy mumbled into his brother's leg.

"What?"

"The cleaner," Naruto clarified. "He doesn't like the smell."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Uh, well, there's nothing I can really do about that."

Naruto bent down and tugged Raidon's nose out of his lower limb. "Hey, why don't you and Kenji wait outside until I come out, 'kay?"

Raidon grinned up at him. "'Kay!"

Before Kenji could escape, Naruto grabbed his arm. "Stay near the street and keep an eye on him." _People from __Mizuki's__ group could still be around. _

"You mean don't let him do anything."

Naruto considered this. "I mean, don't let him get caught." _By anyone._

Kenji rolled his eyes again and walked out after Raidon, who was currently breathing on the cold, air-conditioned window and then drawing in the cloud he left behind.

Naruto turned back to the girl. "Okay, whatcha got?"

"Follow me," she chirped. The girl led him back behind the counter.

_Holy __sh__—_

"As you can see, we have all kinds of animals for you to choose from," the girl explained.

Naruto gulped. "No kidding." There were multiple cages, set into the wall, with all kinds of animals housed in them. The cages were clean, and fairly spacious, and all the hopeful pets were clearly well fed and cared for.

Not one of them made a sound.

Naruto eyed the animals carefully. As the door had opened, each one had snapped into what could only be called "The Perfect Position." Back straight, eyes forward, if it had a tail, it was wrapped around the animal's legs.

_Woah, they're like little perfect clones. _

_Creepy._

"So, what kind of pet are you looking for?" the girl asked again.

_A real one, instead of a Plastic Pod Pet._

"Uh, I don't know," Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head with his good hand.

"Well, we have dogs, cats, birds, turtles, snakes, frogs, hedgehogs—"

_Hedgehogs?__ Who wants a hedgehog? _

The blonde tuned out the rest of the girl's list until she finished and asked. "Well, anything catch your eye?"

Naruto frowned. "I think, I'll need to talk to my mom."

The girl gave a strained smile. "Are you sure?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm not sure what she wants." _Besides, these are creepy animals. Are they __animals,__ or something . . . else? _

"Come back soon," the girl chirped as Naruto exited the building.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. Naruto stepped out into the busy street. He looked left and right and left again, but saw no sign of the younger blonds. "Idiots."

Scanning the street once more, Naruto couldn't find them again. Taking a deep breath, he bellowed, _"Kenji! __Raidon!"_

Several people stopped and looked at him, but Naruto ignored them. He shouted again. _"Kenji! RAIDON! If you don't get back here now, I'll—" _Naruto faltered, unable to decide on a severe enough punishment. _"I'll rip out all your nose and ear hairs one-by-one!" _

This got more stares, but Naruto was more than used to unfriendly gazes. When neither boy appeared, Naruto upped the stakes. _"I'll make you guys do dishes for a week!" _he screamed.

Still nothing. Naruto scowled, the his heart beginning to pound. _"Get back here RIGHT NOW or I'LL TELL MOM!" _

_If anything gets them, it'll be that. _

Naruto waited for all of ten seconds, but didn't see or hear them coming. The fist around his heart tightened and his palms began to sweat. _The ANBU._He thought frantically. _Dad assigned ANBU to follow all of us. _Naruto scanned the rooftops, and the streets, but there was no sign of the guards, either. _They would tell me, they would tell me where Kenji and Raidon had gone. _

Images of Raidon's lifeless face and Kenji's severed head flashed before Naruto's eyes. Now truly panicked, not seeing his brothers or the ANBU, Naruto closed his eyes and sent out his chakra again.

_Come on, come on, Kenji, where are you? Gimme a hint, I need to find you! Where are you? Kenji! Oh, screw it! I don't have time for this! _

Naruto forced his right hand up and made a familiar sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Instantly, the street was filled with over a hundred Narutos. The shopkeepers and pedestrians protested for half a moment, but before any real protests could be made, all but one Naruto sprinted off in a rush.

The real Naruto staggered back and slumped against the outside wall of the shop he'd just been in. _I overdid it with the clones. I can't mass produce them like I can with __Kyuubi's__ chakra. _

Through his telepathic link to all of them, Naruto knew so far not even a trace had been picked up. _Gods.__ Where are they? _

Naruto tried closing his eyes and searching for Kenji's chakra one more time. He focused every ounce of chakra and concentration he had into it, even going so far as to connecting several of his clones to him and creating a chakra net.

_There's got to be something, _anything_! Please, Kenji! No one could hide chakra that well. . . . . . . Wait!_

_Wait!_

_Ah-ha!_

_There! Found you! _

Jumping up and taking a moment to steady himself, Naruto sprinted off in the direction of the extremely faint signature. As he ran through the streets, slightly off balance because of his right arm, Naruto could sense the chakra getting stronger. People muttered and shouted stuff as he blazed past them, but he ignored them.

_I'm coming. Just hold on, I'm coming._

"Naruto!"

The Chuunin's heart slammed hard against his chest as Kenji called out to him.

_"Kenji!"_

A strange look passed across the boy's face as Naruto reached him and grabbed his arm. He dragged Kenji against the wall and scanned the street. "What happened? Are you alright? Where's Raidon? Was it a missing-nin? Where are the ANBU?"

Questions poured out of Naruto's mouth until Kenji stopped him. "Woah, woah, what are you talking about?"

Naruto ignored this question. "Where's Raidon?"

Silently, Kenji pointed down the alley, where Raidon was sitting, holding a little kitten and petting it happily.

_"Raidon!"_

At Naruto's bellow, the kitten yowled and jumped, giving the boy several scratches on his arm. Eyes wide at his brother's wrath, Raidon leapt up, holding the squirming kitten and ran to Naruto's side.

Kenji and Raidon stood side-by-side as Naruto looked them over. Seeing no severe wounds or obvious signs of trauma, Naruto's rage increased tenfold.

"Naruto—"

He cut Kenji off with a growl. Unable to find words enough to convey his anger, Naruto settled for glaring fiercely at them. Apparently, this was enough, as both jeweled sets of eyes widened considerably in terror. His left hand was clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

"If you _ever_ do something like that again—"

Raidon pouted. "But the kitten—"

_"Screw the kitten!" _

Both boys shrank back into the wall.

"If you _ever _scare me like that _again_, I will _saw _off your _legs _with a _spoon!"_

Silence reigned.

_"Understood?"_

They nodded. Naruto sighed and blew out half of the anger. "Let's go home."

The trio of brothers walked for a while, and after some time, Kenji asked, "Why a spoon?"

Naruto twitched. "Because it's dull you twit, it'll hurt more!"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 11

"I thought we were going home," Kenji muttered.

"Change of plans," Naruto snapped back. He continued walking, leading his brothers up to the Hokage tower. The various shinobi stationed along their walk and in the building simply bowed and stepped out of their way, but as they left, Naruto could hear the whispers beginning.

_They say I look angry, well, hell yeah, I'm angry. _

He stalked past two ANBU standing outside the Hokage's office. Naruto snarled at them. The ANBU showed no signs of distress on the outside, but Naruto knew they were unnerved.

_Some ANBU.__ Letting Kenji and Raidon run off like that. _

_Where were the guards? _

Arriving at his father's office, Naruto shot a glare to the secretary, who immediately informed Minato who was there. The brothers walked in. Minato, who was reading some scrolls, held up one finger, signaling them to wait.

The three of them stood silently; Naruto fuming, Kenji staring, and Raidon playing with the kitten he'd dragged with him. After several minutes, Minato finished reading and scribbled a few notes on a separate scroll. Finally, he sealed both away in a drawer in his desk.

Scanning his eyes over his sons, Minato raised a single, slim eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Naruto snapped. "The ANBU! That's what's wrong! These two—" He shoved Raidon forward with his left hand and kicked Kenji forward. The boys smiled sheepishly. "—ran off when I was in the store! And when I came out, I had to create a hundred clones and find Kenji using his chakra trail! And _where were the ANBU?" _

Minato opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto barreled on. "They were no where to be found! They didn't show up when I was screaming for these two! And there was no sign of them where I found Kenji and Raidon! So answer me, _where were the ANBU guards when you know there are missing-nins out to get us?" _

Naruto finally stopped shouting and tried to catch his breath.

Minato stood up. "Naruto, sit down," he advised. "You're looking pale."

_Crap. I shouldn't have expended that energy. Between the shadow clones and my injuries, I'm all out. _Naruto gratefully stumbled into a chair his father pulled up for him. He leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes.

_I like the dark, I think. _

Vaguely, he heard Minato and the boys talking. _Hopefully yelling at them for being so stupid.__ And Raidon's probably holding up that scruffy kitten he chased after. _Naruto peeled open an eye. Yep, just now, Raidon was presenting the little animal to his father. _Huh, __its__ actually kinda cute. _

Naruto closed his eyes and readjusted his position, going into a meditative trance to regain some of his chakra. He zoned out of the world.

_Naruto opened his eyes in his mind. He began to wander the familiar tunnels, arriving finally at the well of his stamina and chakra. _

_"Yep, pretty darned drained," Mental Naruto acknowledged. He sighed, inspecting the nearly-empty well. "Man, I need to work on that when I get home. I rely too much on __Kyuubi's__ chakra."_

_Naruto glanced over at the empty cavern where Kyuubi should be. "Who ever thought I'd end up missing the stupid fox? Ah, well, while I'm here, I might as well try to figure something out."_

_He sighed and began to pace back and forth, thinking over his current situation. First, there was that box in the woods. Naruto ran over that incident in his mind again. There was the fact that he hadn't sensed it before he'd tripped over it. Now, Naruto wasn't as stupid or unobservant as everyone thought. Especially since __Akatsuki__ was still after him. He did manage to keep tabs on his environment. He usually knew everything that happened in a circle around him, with a radius large enough to give him at least a second of reaction time. That was often enough. _

_But Naruto hadn't sensed the box before he'd stumbled over it. It was as though it had appeared out of nowhere. Chewing his lip, Naruto puzzled over this. He focused, running the incident through his mind. He slowed his memory down, replaying the seconds before he'd tripped in half-time. He especially concentrated on the power around the area. _

_"Wait! There."_

_Naruto froze his memory, just a split second before he'd tripped, there was a sudden, extremely small surge. Hell, not even a split second, more like a millisecond. That wasn't enough time to register or react to anything, much less a power surge that minute. _

_Naruto scowled. This only confirmed his theory. This was no ordinary ninja-or genjutsu-he was dealing with. With Kyuubi, his reflexes were nearly three times as fast as a regular ninja. The "box" didn't appear until his foot was less than an inch away from it. _

_"No one, _no one!_"__ Naruto snapped. "No one has that kind of precision. Not even Itachi!" _

_And that was saying something. Uchiha Itachi could do hand signs so quickly, you could barely see them. If this was faster than Itachi, he was dealing with a ninja of incredible speed and precision. _

_"And power," Naruto murmured, casting a glance to his empty Kyuubi cage. _

_This person had the power to either suppress Kyuubi or make Naruto think he had. Now, Naruto was no genjutsu expert, but he could recognize and dispel most __genjutsus__, and even perform a few ones. He'd tried several times with this, once using nearly every ounce of chakra he had, and nothing. _

_And the fact that this genjutsu wasn't remotely hidden or disguised worried the teen as well. There must be some special purpose. Most __genjutsus__ were used to distract the enemy for a few minutes so that the ninja could attack quickly, or deceive the enemy into attacking himself or his comrades. Some were used to gain information. He didn't think he was attacking his friends, and even if he was, the fights he'd had were nothing like the style of his friends' fighting. Plus, chakra didn't lie. His chakra pulse would have told him the truth. _

_One more thing, this whatever-you-want-to-call-this was lasting several weeks. For a genjutsu to last this long, it had to be an incredible amount of power. So, that meant that either time was warped in __here, that__ the time passing in this was not proportional to time passing in the real world. Or, that once again, the ninja behind this had a ridiculous amount of power. _

_Naruto growled in frustration and clutched the sides of his head. This just wasn't right. It didn't feel like anything he'd ever felt before. __"__Grrr__ What is __this!__" _

_He prowled over to his well and saw it slowly refilling, because even though his mind was working, his meditating was also working. "Alright, just a little while longer."_

_Naruto went back to that memory. There had been a minute surge when the box appeared, but Naruto hadn't noticed it until Sasuke had pointed it out. Seeing it in his mind, Naruto saw that the box had somehow camouflaged itself, so again, Naruto didn't notice the chakra. _

_Naruto seethed. "This box is making me look like an idiot!" _

_The annoyed blond decided to focus on the power surge that had knocked him out. He concentrated and held out his hands, calling up his chakra memory. This was something he'd discovered by accident when training with Jiraya. It was as though he had photographic memory for other's chakra. Once he felt a chakra signature, he could recall it at any time. He could also sometimes analyze it. Now, he tried._

_Naruto frowned. This was harder than usual. He reached for the chakra and touched it. _

_Instantly, another shock went through him. It was the same shock he'd felt weeks ago in the woods. Naruto instinctively recoiled._

_Berating himself for his weakness, Naruto again pulled the chakra to him. Again, that shock went up his arm, but he held on to it. What kind of chakra fights back? A second later, another wave of chakra traveled through him, harder this time._

_"My god," he whispered. "What is this?" _

_Another shock went up his psyche and Naruto had no choice to let go this time, as he was actually thrown across the room. The teen sat up in his mind, staring blankly. "What the fu—" _

_"NARUTO!"_

Naruto snapped his eyes open to see his father's concerned visage. He blinked several times. "What?"

Minato leaned back. "What? You suddenly fly across the room and I can't wake you up and all you have to say is _"What?"_!

"Uh, sorry?" Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

Minato stared at him. "'Sorry'? Do you have any idea what happened?"

Naruto debated. _I could tell him, but I don't know if that's right yet. I have to think. _"I don't know," he lied. "I was meditating and suddenly, you were yelling at me."

The Hokage sat back on his heels. "You have no idea what happened?" His voice was dripping with skepticism.

Naruto shook his head. "Nope." _I hope I'm a good enough liar. _

Minato scratched his head. "Are-are you alright?"

Naruto checked himself over. "Yep. Better than before actually. My meditating helped restore my chakra! And—" Naruto jumped up happily, grinning. "--it gave me an idea! Kenji! Raidon! Let's go! I know the perfect thing!"

Naruto grabbed his brother's hand and dragged the boy out, certain that Raidon would follow, which he did. At the door, however, a hand found his shoulder and halted his progress. Minato spoke directly into Naruto's ear so that only he could hear. "I understand you don't want to talk about it in front of your brothers, but you will explain it."

The instant he could move again, Naruto took off. He didn't slow his pace until he landed outside the building. Upon arriving on the street, he heaved a sigh of relief. _I had to get out of there before he started probing deeper. I don't think I'm good enough to cover up that. _

"So, where are we going?" Raidon asked. He was still clutching the kitten.

Naruto grinned down at him. "Well, that's a surprise, but lets just say, you'll like it." He strode down the streets, both brothers pumping their short, in Raidon's case very stubby, little legs to keep up with him.

After about ten minutes of power-walking, Naruto stopped in front of a dirty, rather run-down building. He grinned and put his left hand on his hip. "We're here."

Kenji and Raidon were both panting too heavily to respond, Naruto's sprint through the city having worn them out. "Well, are you guys ready to get some pets?"

He strode into the Konoha Animal Rescue bravely. Instantly, his senses were overwhelmed by animals. They stank, the smell of over forty animals filling up the place. They were loud, as any animal that could made as much noise as it could. They were active, moving around as much as they could in the confined space. The place was a cacophonous, smelly disaster.

Naruto grinned. "Perfect."

Kenji wrinkled his nose. "It _really _smells in here."

"I'd rather smell this than the other place," Raidon stated. "And he agrees with me." The kitten in his arms mewed.

"How do you know its a boy?" Kenji asked.

"He told me," Raidon replied. Again, the little animal appeared to agree with the boy.

Kenji ignored Raidon and turned to Naruto instead. "Why are we here?"

"Well, Mom gave us money and told us to come to a pet store," Naruto began. "The logical conclusion, that she wanted us to buy a pet. So, instead, we're gonna get a bunch of pets and save them from being—uh, ah . . ." He trailed off, realizing Raidon might not know what happened to animals who were in the shelter too long.

The said boy looked up when Naruto stopped talking. "From being what? What are we saving them from?"

"Uh," Naruto cast about desperately. "Loneliness?"

"Oooh," Raidon went back to talking to the kitten. "Were you lonely before I saved you?"

Kenji glared at Naruto. "Mom is going to kill us."

"Why?" Naruto demanded. "She didn't give us any real instructions, and we have more than enough room at home. Besides, some of these animals look downright . . . lonely."

_And I know lonely. It sucks. _

Naruto began to wander through the store. Noting the prices, Naruto calculated that he had enough money from his mom to buy several animals, as well as food and beds for them. The only question was, which ones?

The Chuunin decided the ones who had been here the longest would probably be the best choice. He looked around for someone who worked here. At long last, he found an elderly woman who looked very nice.

He grinned. "Hi, I want some animals."

The woman smiled in the way of old people, her eyes crinkling up. "Animals, plural?"

Naruto nodded brightly. "Yep. My mom gave me money and sent me to an official pet store, but I didn't like the animals there."

"They don't really seem like animals, do they?" The woman asked.

"No, not at all. They're actually pretty creepy."

The woman came out from behind the counter. "Well, how many animals do you want?"

Naruto took out the wad of bills and the old woman's eyes widened. "As many animals as I can buy with this. Preferably ones who are close to their—ah, um."

The old woman smiled sadly. "I know what you mean," she murmured. "The ones with red tags on their cages have a week or less left. I'll let you look around."

With this information in his head, Naruto began to look through the rows of cages. A lot of cages had green, blue, yellow, or white tags. Moving down the first row, he saw, at the very end, a red tag. Naruto moved toward it and saw in the cage, a mangy dog with a dirty red coat and a missing eye. At Naruto's approach, the old dog struggled to his feet and limped forward. Naruto stuck his fingers through the wires in the door and the dog licked them eagerly.

"Yeah, I'll take you," Naruto grinned. The old dog's tail wagged madly. Naruto scribbled down his cage number and moved on.

By the time Naruto had returned to the counter, he'd written down five numbers. The old, half-blind dog was in number 18; he'd found a skinny, hairless cat in 23; to his surprise, there was a goat he was convinced was deaf in number 29; in 35, there was a huge hawk with clipped wings and sharp talons; and a gargantuan dog with shaggy fur, a big drooling tongue, and probably an ungodly amount of fleas.

The elderly woman smiled at him and began to ring it up. When she was finished, Naruto counted out the money and realized he still had enough money for one more animal.

"I don't know which one," he admitted.

"Take another look," she advised. "See if there's an animal that catches your eye."

Naruto shrugged and wandered back down the aisle that he had just left. _I really didn't see an animal that "caught my eye." Then again, I didn't see all the animals in this __row,__ I just looked to see if there were any red tags. Ah, well, there's nothing else to do today. _

Naruto reached the end of the row and turned to go to the next when a yip from behind caught his attention. He spun around and grinned.

"Well, now, what do we have here?" Naruto knelt down.

The auburn fox was sitting in the center of the cage, tail wrapped around its legs, head cocked. The kitsune's golden eyes locked with Naruto's. He grinned and threaded his fingers into the cage again.

Now the fox stood and walked up to Naruto. It sniffed his fingers and, after a second of consideration, nipped at them. Naruto barely pulled back with his fingertips intact, laughing.

"I'll take this one," he called to the old woman.

She hurried over and gave a look of surprise. "Really? This one likes you? He doesn't tolerate most, he tries to take off their fingers."

Naruto grinned as she bustled away. _They don't know __kitsunes__ like I do. _He wrapped his fingers around the cage again as the fox's eyes flashed ruby red for half a second. _Do they, Kyuubi?_


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 12

In the setting sun, Naruto punched the upright log hard and repeatedly. After a week in that blasted sling, he was finally out of it. Naruto grinned as he felt the wood begin to bruise his knuckles. After a week of being unable to use his right arm, however, Naruto had to rebuild the muscles. Between the actual ripping of the muscles and the week of inactivity, his right arm was actually rather weak.

The wood began to splinter as Naruto continued to pound it, taking out some of his frustration about not only his situation, but the fox that he'd brought home from the animal rescue.

_Arg__! Stupid fox! I'm sure its Kyuubi, I'm sure! So why is the hint he gave me so vague! What does it mean! All I got was his eyes glaring at me in my dreams and him growling, "Kit." What is that? What good is that to me? Why would he only give me that, if he could reach me? Why would he take so long? _

_Oh, right. 'Cause he KYUUBI! Sick bastard! He _would _make me wait a week until he was good and ready. _

_But, still, he's here and that's something. Whatever this is, he was able to reach me somehow. So, this person wasn't strong enough to actually separate us. Yeah! _

_And, he recognizes me, so that's even __more better_

_But still! I hate that fox!_

Naruto began to punch with more force as the log splintered. He threw all of his frustration, anger and impatience into the innocent chunk of wood.

_At least he's getting his just desserts! _

Naruto thought back to when he'd brought the gaggle of animals home.

_Naruto, the boys, the animals and all their stuff stepped inside. In the kitchen, Naruto could hear someone, Tama by her chakra signature, stirring and banging pots. Kenji started for his room, intent on getting away before his mother discovered the zoo in her house. _

_But, he was too slow._

_Tama came out of the kitchen. Instantly, the fox pranced up to her and wrapped itself around her legs. "Oh! How beautiful!" she crooned. __"A __kitsune__ I know!" She scooped the fox up in her arms. "I'll call you Kitty for short! Is that okay?" The fox's tail twitched and he sent a glare to Naruto. _

_"Tama, who are you talking to?" Meara stepped into the living room. "Oh, you boys are . . . back." She stared at the two dogs, two cats, goat, fox, hawk, and various supplies the boys had bought to care for them. Several times, her mouth opened and closed silently for several minutes. _

_Naruto, who had been grinning broadly when he walked in, found his good mood faltering into terror as he observed the vein beginning to pound on his mother's forehead. Finally, she found her voice._

_"What! What is __this!__" She waved helplessly at the animals. __"Wha—how?__I-I __ohhh__!"__ She stared at the new pets for a minute, __then__ raised her eyes. _

_Naruto gulped. _

_"You!"__ Meara took a menacing step forward and Naruto instinctively took one back. __"Naruto!__ What did you __do!__"_

_He opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off. "Forget it! Forget it! I don't want to hear it! You are in So Much Trouble!" _

_Raidon, ever the innocent one, interrupted her. "Mom, you're scaring the animals!" Indeed, all but the deaf goat were cowering back in fear; the goat was trying to eat Naruto's pant leg. _

_Meara glared at him. __"Fine!__ You come with me!" She stalked out and Naruto followed, tugging his ruined pants out of the goat's teeth._

_"MINATOIIIIIIIII!"_

_Meara ended in the family room and glared daggers into her son, waiting for Minato to arrive. Naruto felt himself shrinking and wishing he could melt into the floor._

_The Hokage finally walked in, looking utterly confused. "Meara, honey, there are—" _

_"I know. And guess __who's__ fault it is!"_

_Minato looked at his son. Meara caught the look. __"Right!__ Of course! Who else would bring home seven, count them, seven animals from __Kami__ knows where! He looks like he dragged them off the streets! Did you see the animals out there! God! He is _your son! _Not __mine,__ in times like these, I swear there's not an ounce of me in him!"_

_As her ranting turned to him, Minato glared at Naruto, who crossed his eyes back. Minato gave him a look that said, "Please grow up!" Naruto stuck his tongue out. _

_"Naruto!__ For god's sake, grow up!" Meara rounded on him again. Over her shoulder, Minato smirked in triumph. __"Seriously!__Just bringing home seven animals without asking permission!"_

_Naruto scowled at this. "But you gave me money and told me to go to the pet shop!" He foolishly protested. _

_If anything, this statement seemed to only enrage her more. "You used the money I gave you to buy them!"_

_Sensing something was wrong, Naruto nodded. "I assumed that you wanted me too!"_

_"No! NO! I owed money to the owner for a favor she did me! __Ohh__, I'm going to kill you, Naruto!"__ Meara screamed. Naruto found himself backing up into a chair, the chair hitting him at the knees and forcing him to sit down. Suddenly, Meara seemed so much taller. Naruto gulped. __And scarier._

_Finally, Minato stepped in to save his son from a most grisly fate. "Meara, honey, please, __don't_actually _hurt him now. At least wait until his arm is better."_

_She seemed to calm down somewhat at this point, though there were still several bulging blood vessels in her head. As she quieted, however, Naruto got even more frightened. There was a glint in her eye that did not bode well. Suddenly, she smiled and Naruto nearly wet himself in fear. _

_"You," she smirked, leaning forward. __"Are going to enjoy the next couple of weeks."_

_Naruto gulped. _

_"__Arrgh__!"_With one final, powerful punch, Naruto split the log down the middle. Panting heavily, he stretched his right arm and grinned. He could feel himself growing strong again. _Maybe __its__ from all the chores I have to do at home, _he thought sourly. _She's making me do every single one! Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting! __Tch__. Mean woman! _

_The gardening isn't too bad, though. I like gardening. _

"That log didn't stand a chance," Minato observed.

Naruto turned his head to his father. "Huh?"

"I mean, look at the way you massacred all the other ones," Minato chuckled. Naruto glanced down the line of destroyed logs and grinned sheepishly.

The Hokage grinned back and strode over to his son. Naruto waited for his dad to reach him before asking, "Why'd you come?"

"I promised to train you one-on-one once a week, remember?" he asked.

Naruto thought for a minute, then remembered the conversation in the Hokage's office. "Oh, yeah. So, what do you want to teach me?"

"What do you want to learn?" Minato wandered down the line of splintered logs, using some jutsu Naruto had never seen before to mend them back up.

Naruto was interested. "How about that one?"

Minato stopped and turned back to Naruto. "Huh?"

"That one." Naruto pointed. "The one you're doing now. It looks cool."

"Okay." Minato moved to the next log. "Come here and watch closely." Naruto hurried over to his father's side, watching as his father performed a series of hand signs and held his hands over the logs. Chakra flowed from his hand around the log and it folded back up and returned to its original shape. _That chakra just flowed like water. _Naruto marveled.

Naruto frowned. "Is this a medical jutsu of some kind?"

The Hokage shook his head. "No, it only works on inanimate objects. If these were living trees, for instance, I couldn't repair them. Now, before I do the next one, what were the hand signs I did?"

Naruto grinned. "I wasn't really watching your hand signs, more the way you molded your chakra," he admitted.

Minato grinned. "This time, watch the hand signs, too, okay?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and nodded, blushing slightly.

_Okay, memorize the hand signs. __Wolf, dog, tiger, dragon, phoenix, huh?__Never seen that one before.__ Oh, wolf finishes it off. _

"Well?" Minato asked.

Naruto scowled at his father's hands. "Wolf, dog, tiger, dragon, phoenix, something I didn't recognize, and wolf again."

"That is the sign of the fish," Minato explained.

Naruto scratched his head. "I've never heard of the sign of the fish," he confessed. Before waiting for his father's response, he moved to the next log. _Okay. Focus my chakra just like Dad did. Wolf, dog, tiger, dragon, phoenix, fish, wolf. _Finishing the hand signs, Naruto held his hands out over the log. His chakra began to wrap around the log. The log bent back towards itself quickly at first, but Naruto felt his chakra waning. It cut out suddenly, leaving the log half-finished.

Naruto scowled and jumped to the next log. He called out more of his chakra, performing the hand seals again, in rapid succession. He didn't notice his father standing, watching with narrowed eyes.

Again, the chakra wrapped around the log. It forced the chunk of wood upwards, and finally, the two halves met. But, something was off. Naruto narrowed his eyes and put more chakra into the wood, but that wasn't it. Naruto cut the chakra and inspected the wood.

_Oh, so that's it. The log was put back into place, but it wasn't matched up exactly. __Its__ like putting a puzzle together, making sure all the pieces line up. That's the only way to get it truly repaired. _

_This jutsu requires power _and _precision. _

Naruto moved to the next one. This time, though, he first ran his chakra over one half of the wood, using his chakra memory to remember the pattern. Then, he did the same for the other one, mentally finding the corresponding grooves and bumps. Naruto sped through the hand signs and encircled the log with his chakra.

As the log bent upwards, Naruto began to line up the pieces of the wooden puzzle. He finally matched the two halves and pressed them together. Grinning in triumph, Naruto cut the chakra and grinned.

The log fell apart.

_"WHAT!" _Naruto screamed in rage as he glared at the two pieces of wood. _"What's wrong with __you!__ I fixed you! Stay fixed!" _

"Ah, Naruto," Minato broke in. He coughed/laughed into his palm, blue eyes watering with mirth.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up from his intense glaring.

"First off, I don't think the log will listen to you." He received a glare at this. "And second, did anyone ever teach you what the hand signs mean?"

Naruto stared at him. "They mean something?"

Minato sighed. "I'll take that as a no. I'm thinking of changing the Academy curriculum to include what the hand signs represent and why those certain ones create the jutsus we know," he said. The Hokage boosted himself up onto one of the repaired logs.

"Uh, are you gonna tell me or just sit up there all day?" Naruto demanded.

"Oh, sorry," Minato chuckled. "I got lost in thought for a minute there."

"Uh, yeah," Naruto agreed. He jumped up on the log next to his father. "So? What do they mean?"

"Well, each sign you make is named by an animal, right?"

Naruto thought about it and nodded. "Yeah. So?"

Minato scratched his head absently. "Every animal is unique, it has its own characteristics and specialties. So, the idea behind making animal signs is to channel a particular aspect of that animal."

"Wait, I could do hand signs and jutsus without actually focusing on the animal, so how does that work?" Naruto wondered.

"Ahh. I'm not entirely sure," Minato admitted. "Its some ritual that binds the animal's nature to the hand sign. I asked my sensei a long time ago, but he was hungover and didn't answer properly. "

_Yep. Sounds like Ero-sennin. _"You concentrate on the animal, and then what?"

"Your chakra takes on the aspects of that animal," Minato explained. "For this repairing jutsu, you use wolf, dog, tiger, dragon, phoenix and fish. Think about the animals and tell me why you think those signs were used."

Naruto shifted on the pole, locking his hands behind his head and leaning back to look at the sky. _Hmmm. Lets start with wolf. What are wolves famous for? __Uhhh.__Um.__ All I can think of about wolves is that they work in packs. Wolf was made twice, at the beginning and the end. Perhaps it was to tie it all together and make the signs work together. _

_What was next? __Dog.__ I know Kakashi's nin-dogs are good at tracking. __Buuuuut__ I don't think that's it. What else are dogs known for? _

_Sniffing other dogs' butts?_

_Ah, no. _

_Licking __themselves_

_Probably no—wait._

_Don't dogs lick their wounds to heal themselves? Maybe that's it. The dogs can heal their own wounds to a degree. So the healing properties of the dog's saliva must play a part, right?_

_Okay, what was the third? _

_Tiger._

_Hn__. What do tigers do? Well, their really strong and stuff. __And fierce.__ Maybe that's it. The tiger seal provides strength and __fierc__—, uh, fierceness? That doesn't sound right. _

_Moving on._

_Dragon.__Dragon __dragon__dragon__dragon_

_Breathing fire? _

_No, fire bad.__ Fire burns wood, not fixes it. _

_What else are dragons known for? __Scales?__ No. __Tails?__ No. __Sharp teeth?__ No. Gah! What is it! What are dragons known for? That's all I can think of! _

_I'll come back to that. What was next? Phoenix._

_Great, again, phoenixes, __phoenii__ What's the plural? Oh well, phoenixes, whatever, are also big on fire. The __whole,__ burst into flames and rise from the ashes crap. _

_Hey! That's it! Phoenixes rise from the ashes and restore themselves. That's why that's in there. The phoenix also represents repair and renewal and all that crap. _

_Okay, only one more, the fish. _

_Fish live in the ocean._

_Fish are in water. Yeah! That's what makes the chakra flow like it does! _

Naruto glanced over at his father, to find him reading a scroll. He smiled. _I guess work doesn't stop for the Hokage. _

After a few minutes, his father finished and looked his way. Naruto grinned and gave him the Sitting Down Nice Guy Pose, Version Two.

Minato chuckled. "Well?"

"Alright! First, the wolf at the beginning and the end tie everything together, because wolves work in packs to do things, right?"

"Right." Minato nodded, grinning.

"Next is the dog and the dog can heal itself by licking its wounds, so the healing of the dog, and the phoenix is like that too, with the resurrection, those two are the actual repairing of the wood."

"Right again. You're on a roll."

Naruto grinned. "The tiger provides strength and fierceness—"

"Ferocity, not fierceness, son."

"Oh, okay, anyway, that's what gives the jutsu strength to bend the wood. And finally, the fish. The fish is what makes the chakra flow around the wood and completely surround it, like the log is submerged in water." Naruto finished and grinned proudly.

Minato rubbed his chin. "Pretty good, but you forgot one."

Naruto made a face. "The dragon, yeah, I couldn't figure that out."

"I thought that would be the tough one for you, based on how that last log turned out," he said.

"Really?" Naruto was surprised. _So the dragon aspect was what I was missing. _

Minato nodded. "I assume you thought dragons were known for breathing fire, and all that stuff, right, their physical characteristics."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, so what is it? A spiritual whatever?"

"Oh, Kami," Minato muttered into his hand. "No, its not a spiritual whatever. Its about their long life. The dragon seal lends the permanency to the jutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized his problem. "So, the dragon seal was off."

"Yep, that's the ticket." Minato nodded and took a sip out of his canteen. "Show me your dragon seal. You were doing them too quickly before for me to see."

The Chuunin made the hand seal. "Ah, there's the problem." Minato leaned forward and pointed. "Your pinky fingers aren't bent properly. Here—" He carefully repositioned the boy's fingers to the correct position. "—you go."

"Great! I got this now!" Naruto jumped off the post and ran to the last log. _Okay, last chance, Namikaze! _He memorized the wood's pattern, performed the hand seals necessary, with the dragon modification, and wrapped his chakra around the log. The two sections bent together, fitting perfectly, and molded, the dragon sign working and lending its long life to seal the two halves back as they were.

Naruto put a little extra chakra into the log, just to be sure. Then he stepped back and stopped the flow. The Chuunin held his breath, waiting for it to fall apart. It didn't, and after several seconds, he turned to his dad, who was grinning madly.

"I did it!" Naruto whispered.

Minato nodded. "You did it!"

_"__Wooo-hoooooo__!"_Naruto sprinted around the clearing, fingers in the air, cheering happily.

"Hey, Dad," Naruto suddenly called. He ran toward his dad and jumped on him, giving the man a giant, Naruto-style bear hug that knocked him to the ground.

"Ugh," Minato grunted as he hit the ground hard.

Naruto buried his face in his vest. "Thanks."

The older man coughed a couple of times before answering, "Welcome."

"So, what else are you gonna teach me?" Naruto asked. He jumped off his dad and bounced excitedly.

Minato sat up gingerly, rubbing his ribcage. "Don't you think that's enough for one day?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nope. I wanna learn _more._"

"More, huh?" Minato laughed. "Of course you want more. You always want more. More ramen, more toys, more friends, why should jutsus be different?"

Naruto only grinned. _Yeah, I guess I do always want more. Well, that's __good,__ it'll always keep me learning! _

"Alright! What should I teach you?" The Hokage stood and clapped his hands. "Let's see, let's see. Oh! I know!"

Naruto jumped up. "What? What is it?"

Minato grinned, looking like a little kid. "You'll see, just wait here." He started to leave.

"Wait! Why wait?" Naruto demanded, coming very close to pouting.

"I have to get a scroll from the office! Practice your patience!" With that, he sprinted off in a flash.

Naruto humphed and folded his arms. "He couldn't even tell me what it was, could he?"


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Naruto childishly kicked the ground, then decided to demolish the logs again so he could practice the repairing jutsu again. _I'll have to ask Dad what its official title is. I can't believe I forgot. _

Naruto stepped back about five feet, took a running leap and roundhouse kicked the log. The log completely shattered, splinters of wood scattering everywhere. Naruto hissed as several long splinters lodged in his shin. _Ah, well, I'll pick them out later. I'll just get more anyway. _

The blonde moved to the next log and did the same thing, this time just from four feet. Again, the log fell to pieces, though not quite as small this time. Again, several slivers of wood stuck in his leg. Naruto made a face at the log and moved to the next one. He moved back four feet and threw more force into his kick. This time, the large log fell apart just like the first one.

Naruto backed up three feet for the next one. He concentrated and managed to throw enough power into nearly get it as broken as the previous one. Another log and he had three logs completely shattered from a single kick. He smirked and moved on to the next one, but this time, he was too close to get a running start, so he had to settle for a standing kick.

It took four more logs for Naruto to get enough strength behind his kick to really shatter the log. Naruto smirked and demolished the final remaining log easily. Then he scowled down at his splinter-ridden shin.

_I'll just get them out of there tonight. Right now, its time to practice ah The Amazing Repairing Jutsu! _Naruto grimaced. _Okay, gotta get the real name for this. _

Naruto began to make the hand seals, but the back of his neck tingled in a sort of sixth sense he'd developed over the years. He continued with the hand signs and repaired the log, but began scanning the surrounding woods for a chakra signature.

Before he could pinpoint the source, however, a warm chuckle came from the trees to Naruto's right. "I guess you've found me."

Naruto froze, then his face broke out in a huge grin as his heart lifted. Oh, he knew that voice. The teen spun around to see—

Naruto's brain stuttered as an ANBU sheepishly stepped from the woods. "Eh?"

Again, the ANBU laughed. "I know I'm not supposed to talk to you," he admitted.

_That's his voice, but, but—uh—_

"But, since you found me out anyway, I figure what's the harm?" He shrugged.

Naruto nodded dumbly and continued to stare at the figure. He couldn't see his face, but his build was the same and no one could mistake that ponytail. But, everything was so weird here, Naruto had to make sure. "I—Iruka?" He purposely left off the "sensei."

The ANBU shook a finger at him in a very teacherly fashion. "Now, it's Dolphin, when the mask is on."

The blond nodded and went back to his broken logs, but he turned around a second later. "Why aren't you a teacher?" Naruto blurted.

Dolphin cocked his head. "What?"

_Well, I started it. _"Why aren't you a teacher at the Academy?"

In the silence that followed, Naruto could imagine Iruka blinking in confusion behind his mask. "A teacher?"

Naruto nodded and waited for an answer.

Iruka put on hand on his hip while the other scratched his head. "Why would I be a teacher?"

_Why? Cause you're a teacher! That's what you've always been! _"I, uh, just think you'd be a good teacher," Naruto mumbled to the ground. He turned back to his logs. _Huh. What does make Iruka-sensei such a good teacher? _

The man behind him sighed. "You can just come out and say it, you know."

Naruto froze mid-seal and turned around. "Say what?"

Dolphin sighed heavily. "That I suck as an ANBU," he muttered.

Naruto stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Iruka shook his head. "Don't play dumb, Naruto," he sighed. "I'm the weakest ANBU."

The teen scowled and faced his sensei fully. "Who says this?"

"Everyone," Iruka snapped. "Even you, wondering why I'm not a teacher. A _teacher_ for Kami's sake! It doesn't take much fighting skill to be an Academy teacher! Everyone thinks I'm useless as an ANBU! And I am!"

"No, you—" Naruto tried to stop Iruka, but the man was on a roll.

"I can barely hold my own against an opponent when I'm in a squad!"

Naruto had to interrupt him before Iruka really got into it, when the man was on a roll, he just kept rolling until he was good and done. "Then why did my dad assign you to protect me?"

"Probably to boost my confidence! Although I don't know why, seeing as how I _lost _your _brothers_ a week or so ago!"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks at that. _Iruka was the one who lost track of them? But, but that doesn't make sense. __Iruka's__ got an eagle eye when it comes to kids. _

_Well, my Iruka does, anyway. His eyes have been trained for years watching kids in the Academy, but this Iruka hasn't had that. He—_

Naruto suddenly tensed and jumped to the side, half a second too late. A kunai skimmed his arm, tearing through the jacket, shirt, and skin to rip his muscle and blood vessels. Naruto continued with the jump, rolling, trying to protect his slightly injured left arm. _First the right arm, now the left arm. __Great._Naruto came up into a defensive posture to see Iruka and a missing-nin fighting viciously. He spun as footsteps resonated through the ground beneath him. It was another missing-nin, this one with a pair of swords swinging in circular patterns. Naruto focused instead on the man's eyes, knowing that the swords were simply a distraction. He waited for the signal from the dark orbs to move, and finally got it. Naruto jumped up as one of the man's shadow clones attacked from the ground.

_Damn! I should have gone up higher! _Naruto thought as his foot cleared the clone's attack by inches. He spun around and lashed out at the clone, catching its head with his shin. _Double damn! I forgot about the splinters! _

Naruto hissed in pain as the contact forced the slivers of wood deeper into his skin. The clone exploded in a puff of smoke and Naruto landed in it, much to his chagrin. _I should have been able to land out of it, what's wrong with me? _

A punch to the face sent Naruto reeling back. He tried to regain his footing, another task that should have been easy, but somehow ended up on his butt, bleeding from a brand new slice in his lip. _Damnit__! Why—_

Naruto rolled swiftly—or tried to. The most he could manage was to flop over onto his stomach. _I don't—_

_Poison._

Naruto glanced at the slice on his arm. _If I'd been hit full on with that, I probably would have been out instantly. _

A hand grabbed the back of his collar and hauled him up. Naruto lifted his arms in an attempt to make a hand sign, but they barely moved before a stunning blow was delivered to the back of his head, and once again, he slid into darkness.

_Naruto slowly opened his eyes to find red orbs the size of dinner plates hovering over his face._

_"AAAAHHHHHHH!"__ The blonde scuttled back like a crab. __"KYUUBI!"_

_The rather large fox demon chuckled, the sound like thunder. Naruto jumped to his feet and scowled at him. "What's your problem?!" he demanded. "Ah, never mind!"_

_Naruto began to pace back and forth. "We need to figure this out! Okay, Kyuubi, what do you know about what's going on here? I've figured out we're in serious trouble. Can you get access to my real __body,__ find out what everyone is doing out there?"_

_Kyuubi laid his head on his paws and tracked Naruto with his eyes. "Kit?"_

_Naruto ignored him and kept babbling. "I can't figure out this genjutsu! It's so powerful—"_

_"__Kiiiiit__."_

_Once more Naruto didn't hear his constant companion. "Also, is this thing about the Fourth being my father true? Because that's just—"_

_"KIT!"_

_Naruto nearly fell over from the force of __Kyuubi's__ yell. "What the hell? What did I do to deserve that, you dumb fox?"_

_"Do you notice anything odd about me, kit?" Kyuubi rumbled. He flicked his tails a couple times. _

_Naruto stared at the fox. "Oh, you mean the fact that you're just a regular fox out there? No big demon, no nine tails, just a cute little __kitsune__ that got nicknamed 'Kitty'?" _

_Kyuubi growled. "Shut up."_

_Naruto snickered. "Yeah, I noticed. Why are you like that anyway? I know that's you, but—" _

_"Kit. Yes, that is __me, that__ is the only way I could get near you. Something is repressing me in a way. Do you notice anything about me _in here_?" To prove his point, the fox stood and stretched languidly._

_"Huh." Naruto stared at him, trying to see something new about the familiar beast. __"Uh, new shampoo?"_

_Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "I know you have a brain _somewhere _in that skull of yours. Use it." He advised, tapping Naruto's head gently with a paw. He began to pace around, absently swishing his tails. _

_Naruto automatically avoided the nine dangerous appendages as he studied the fox. Suddenly, something occurred to him. Slowly, the teen turned to the cage. He saw it securely locked and _empty.

_"K-__ky__-KYUUBI!"_

_"Yes, kit?"_

_Naruto ran up to the fox, his arms flapping wildly. His mouth was moving, but only incoherent babble could be heard coming out. "__bu__—__what? __ho—__ngh__! I do—__ju__ ah!"_

_"Use your words, kit. Use your words."_

_"YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR CAGE!" _

_"Very good.__ Next time we'll try two syllables."_

_"Don't mess with me, you dumb fox!" Naruto snarled. "How are you out of your cage?!"_

_Kyuubi sighed. "Still just monosyllabic, I see. Ah, well, what's a demon lord to do?"_

_"KYUUUUUUUUUUBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"_

_"Alright, alright.__ Yes, I'm out of my cage, or repressed so far into it I'm as good as out," the fox mused. He extended a claw and inspected it._

_Naruto scowled. "How can you be so far into it you're out of it?"_

_The fox retracted his claw and looked Naruto straight in the eye. "I have the ability, rather had, the ability to enter other's minds, a sort of telepathy. I could only enter so far, though, not enough to completely take over."_

_"Wait. You're completely inside my head, right?"_

_Kyuubi nodded, eyes narrowing at the boy._

_The Chuunin scratched his head. "Then why haven't you taken me over?"_

_The fox sighed and began to pace again. "Inside another's mind, for me, anyway, there are the three walls that represent the boundaries of the mind. Then there is the opening, where the fourth wall should be, where I entered. What the Fourth did with his seal was not only stick me inside you—" At __this comment, the tails switched more violently for a moment. "—but he built up the walls of your mind and then put this cage door after I'd entered."_

_"Oookay."__ Naruto looked around. "But that doesn't answer my question."_

_"I wasn't finished." Kyuubi shot him an annoyed look and Naruto made a 'please continue' gesture. "Despite the fact that I am older and far more powerful than any human could possibly be__ there are some exceptionally strong minds that I cannot fully take over."_

_Naruto preened. "And I'm one of those super strong-minded people, right? I knew I was really smart!"_

_The fox rolled his ruby eyes. "No, you're just too stupidly stubborn for me to do anything."_

_"HEY!"_

_"Besides being ridiculously thickheaded, I think there is something more about you." Kyuubi turned and prowled over to the gate. _

_Naruto waited, but when Kyuubi didn't answer, he demanded. "Well? What?"_

_"I'm not sure," Kyuubi admitted. "Its just I have rarely encountered someone with such a strong mental resistance, even as a child."_

_"What do you mean?" Naruto wondered, feeling something in his memory twitch._

_Kyuubi turned back and resumed his pacing. "When you were very young, I tried repeatedly to get you to use my powers, but you always, subconsciously, resisted unless you were in mortal danger."_

_"YOU WHAT!"_

_The fox seemed unruffled by Naruto's outburst. "What? You didn't expect me to lie down and take this imprisonment, did you?"_

_Naruto turned away and sneered. "You know you're an as—"_

_"Yes, I know. Anyway, back to the original question."_

_"Which was?"_

_"How am I so far in, I'm out of my cage?"_

_Naruto grinned and faced his parasite again. "Oh, yeah, how is that?"_

_Kyuubi sat down slowly, his tails wrapping around his legs slowly. __"Try thinking for yourself, kit."_

_Naruto made a face at the demon, but sat down to think it over anyway. "So your cage is actually my mind."_

_"We just established that."_

_"Shut up. If the seal's intact, and you're still out of your cage, out of my mind, then its not the seal, or the gate that's got a problem, its my mind. So they somehow got you out, using my mind?" _

_"Right."__ Kyuubi lowered his head._

_Naruto tried unsuccessfully to repress a shudder. "Wow. That's—" _

_"—a hell of a lot of power."__ Kyuubi finished. "Do you remember I said I was being prevented from using my powers?"_

_Naruto gulped. "Yes."_

_"The person, or persons, who started all of this don't want me contacting you. The only time I can get anywhere near you is when your mind is very far from consciousness, when you were sleeping or now, when that missing-nin knocked you out."_

_"How did you come to me in the pet shop, then?"_

_"I can access you indirectly, but not fully speak to you. Listen to me, kit. The chakra that did this, it's familiar to me; I know it from somewhere. If I have time and access to it, I can figure out who it is. They don't want that. That's why they repressed me so far I escaped."_

_Naruto held up a hand. "Wait. If you pushed back far enough, you could escape the prison?"_

_Kyuubi shook his head. "No. I could never go that deep on my own, not without your permission."_

_"Oh." Naruto nodded, trying to absorb all of this new information. "But, you got out anyway, without my permission or help, so—"_

_"You're on the right track, kit. Whoever did this has the power and ability to warp the very fabric of your mind."_

_Naruto ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Whoever this is can mess with my mind enough to let you out?"_

_Kyuubi nodded. "Yes, but it's even more unnerving that this being—"_

_"'Being'?"__ Naruto questioned. "What do you mean 'being'?"_

_The great fox rolled its eyes. "No human being has this kind of power. Not even I had this kind of power, before I was sealed in you. The best you humans can do is genjutsu, which __is simply illusions__. This Being went several steps farther and changed the nature of your mind. Also, the Being has the power to sup__p__ress me deeply. No human has that kind of power."_

_Naruto frowned, thinking this over. "But the Fourth Hokage sealed you in me. Isn't that the same thing?"_

_Kyuubi shook his head. "What do you know about the seal?"_

_"Uh, not much really," Naruto admitted. _

_"Its called the Dead Demon Reaper Seal," Kyuubi explained. "It calls upon the death god __Shinigami__ to seal the soul, sometimes, __its__ inside of another's body, sometimes the soul is sealed in the performer's body. Either way, a price must be paid."_

_"A price?"__ Naruto repeated. _

_The __kitsune__ nodded. "Yes. For its services, the __Shinigami__ demands the soul of the person who did the jutsu. __Shinigami__ cuts the soul away from the body and eats it."_

_Naruto made a face. _"Eats _it?" _

_"Eats it," Kyuubi confirmed. "In my case, because I was sealed in you, the __Shinigami__ did not take my soul, but the soul of the Fourth's was taken by __Shinigami__."_

_"So, the Shin-whatever _ate _the soul of the Fourth Hokage? Then what? Digested it?" Naruto asked. _

_"I'm not sure what happens when the souls are taken together. I believe that the Third Hokage used that technique to defeat the first two Hokages and take the Snake-man's arms from him four years ago, correct?"_

_"Yeah," Naruto nodded. _

_"Well, in that case, because the sealer and the sealed are eaten together, they are together forever, doomed to continue their last actions forever in the belly of the reaper. Because this technique is used in battle, the two combatants fight eternally in the reaper." Kyuubi lowered his head, watching the boy for his reaction._

_"So, the souls of all four previous Hokages are in the __Shinigami__ now?" Naruto wondered. _

_"Yes." Kyuubi let that sink in. "But that's not the point of this conversation," he continued. "The only way for that jutsu to work is to call on the power of the __Shinigami__, the death god."_

_Naruto stared at the demon lord. "Are you saying what I think your saying?"_

_"What do you think I'm saying?" Kyuubi asked. _

_"That this being has power similar to a god?" Naruto asked. _

_Kyuubi shifted, stretching his paws out in front of him. __"Certainly more than you, or me, although I'm not sure about god-like powers."_

_Suddenly, the fox sat up straight. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me. __Fuc__—"_


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Naruto opened his eyes to a white ceiling and a very familiar smell.

_Ugh. __Hospitals.__ But I know this isn't my usual room, I put my name on the ceiling in spitballs once. _

He sat up slowly and the room spun. "Woaaah."

A hand was on his chest and another behind his head. "Lay back down, son, just lay down, there you go." Naruto followed the hands and the familiar voice back down onto the soft pillow. Spiky yellow hair flashed in his field of vision, but was quickly gone.

"Dad?" Naruto whispered. The word sent him into a coughing fit. Each hack made his chest and ribs ache and felt like sandpaper scraping over his vocal cords and throat. Finally, they died down and Naruto uncurled from the fetal position he'd fallen into.

"Shh, shh, don't try to speak," the warm voice soothed. "I'll get you some water." For half a second, the strong chakra emanating from his left was gone, but then it was back again. A hand lifted his head and something cool and wet pressed against his lips. Naruto tried to gulp it down, but the cup kept moving and he could only get quick sips.

"Is that better?" the voice asked. Naruto licked his now-moistened lips and nodded. He felt himself be lowered back onto the hard bed and nearly whimpered at the loss of contact.

Naruto opened his mouth and tried again. "Dad?"

"What is it? Is something wrong? What hurts? Do you feel sick? I'll call a nurse—no, better be a doctor, they'll know what's wrong with you, don't worry. I'll be right back." Arashi started to stand up, but Naruto grasped for his hand.

"Dad, I'm fine," he croaked, his voice still very dry. Naruto opened his eyes again. His father was half-standing by the bed. Naruto surveyed his appearance. His forehead protector was gone and his bangs fell in his eyes, which had bags under them. His clothes were rumpled and worn-looking. "But you look like hell, you know."

Arashi blinked and, after a moment, snorted. "To think I was worried about you." He sat back down and ran a hand through his hair. "Should I call the doctor in?"

Naruto shook his head, but that made the room sway dangerously. "I think I'm okay. Just a little woozy."

"Yes, the doctor said the antidote might make you feel sick," Arashi explained. He grabbed some pillows from under the bed and propped them behind the boy's head and shoulders. "Here, this should help you sit up."

"Thanks." Naruto sat up slowly, the pillows behind his back almost uncomfortably hard. He leaned against them anyway, more unhappy flat on his back than with the lumpy pillows poking it.

Arashi sat on the edge of the bed, his brow furrowed. "What do you remember?"

Naruto swallowed and answered, "I was at the training fields, working on that jutsu you taught me, when Iru—uh, Dolphin and I were attacked by two missing-nins. One of them grazed my arm with a poisoned kunai. Dolphin took on one of them and I fought the other. I could feel the poison in my system and the guy I was fighting hit my head." As he said this, Naruto winced and gently rubbed the back of his head, where a goose egg was covered by bandages. _Grr__ I wish Kyuubi could take care of that. I've got a headache. _"Hmm. How's Dolphin?"

"He had some minor injuries. He did pretty good, managed to hold both of them off until I got there," Arashi explained. He poured some more water into a cup and handed it to Naruto, who began to sip it.

"What was the poison on the kunai?" Naruto wondered between sips.

At the mention of the poison, his father twitched. His left hand clenched and he took a deep breath before answering. "The poison was very strong, you felt how fast it worked." Naruto nodded and sipped again, glad for the cool water. Arashi took another deep breath and ran a suddenly shaky hand through his hair. "You were_ damn_ lucky that the kunai only grazed you. The doctors estimated that a tenth of the poison on the kunai got into your system."

Naruto lowered his glass and stared at his father. "A _tenth?_And it worked that fast?"

He nodded, his mouth tight. "A tenth."

Naruto scratched his chin, thinking about that poison. "That's one heck of a poison," he murmured. "Did medic-nins analyze it? Because if we could replicate that kind of—"

_"What!" _

Naruto jumped and stared at his father, who was staring back in amazement and almost horror. "You almost _died! _Had that kunai wound been any deeper, you'd be dead now! As it was, the doctors were barely able to save you! If I hadn't rushed you here, you'd be dead anyway! You've been in a blasted coma for _five days!" _During this rant, Arashi had risen up fully and now loomed over his son, face contorted in rage and fear. Suddenly, he turned and stalked to the window, bracing his hands on either side of it.

Naruto stared at his father, then scanned the room. Someone had brought a table in and placed it in front of the chairs in the room. Papers, scrolls and books were scattered on the table and spilled over to the floor. The couch on the other side of the room had an indentation in it. It was clear his father had been just about living in Naruto's room for the duration of his coma. "I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't know." Arashi didn't respond, just continued to stare out the window. "I'm okay, really."

Arashi responded by hitting the window frame. Then again, harder. And once more, hard enough to crack it. Naruto pushed himself up into something close to a sitting position. "Dad?"

The other blonde man shook his head and brought his fist up to his mouth. After a moment, his shoulders began to shake. He gasped for breath and his face began to turn red. Then, he threw his head back and laughed. The Hokage's laughter rang through the room, with more than an edge of hysteria to it.

Naruto stared at his father, eyes wide and concerned. "Uh, Dad?"

Arashi turned around and waved his hand in a "don't-mind-me" gesture, still laughing. He dragged a chair over and sat down. Slowly, his guffaws died down to laughs, then to chuckles, and finally with a sigh, he stopped laughing. "My cheeks hurt now," he commented.

"Do I need to call a doctor?" Naruto asked, very worried about his father's mental health.

"Hmm? Oh, no, no," Arashi assured him. He grinned. "I'm fine."

Naruto blinked. "Riiight. I'm calling a doctor." He reached for the call button, but his father stopped him.

"No, really, I'm okay now." At Naruto's decidedly skeptical look, he continued. "It's just one of those situations where you either laugh or cry and it's not exactly becoming of the Hokage to fall apart crying, so," he shrugged. "I laughed."

Naruto inspected his father's face carefully. Satisfied, he leaned back against the lumpy pillows and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I can understand that."

Arashi shook his head. "It has been a trying three weeks," he murmured. "I swear," he marveled, staring at Naruto with an almost wondering expression. "Trouble follows you around like a lost puppy dog."

Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Sakura had told him that once, while repairing his multiple broken ribs after a simple C-ranked mission of his turned into a three-week, A-ranked battle for his life. _That happens a lot. When I'm Hokage, I'll assign missions more carefully. I bet the Granny's half drunk when she gives out missions. _

"Anyway, I'll go get your mother and Dr. Amuki." Arashi stood up.

"Ew. Why him?" Naruto demanded, making a face. He did _not _like the man.

Arashi grinned and ruffled his hair. Naruto made another face at the childish treatment. "Because he has the test results back," he answered.

"Finally," Naruto muttered. "Did he send them through the mail in Suna?"

Arashi frowned as he walked out the door. "Hush."

A few minutes of staring at the ceiling with out the return of grown-ups and Naruto was bored. He got bored very easily. The boy began to eye the pile of papers on the desk. "It wouldn't hurt to just look, would it?"

He slowly sat up and waited for the room to stop spinning. He slowly stood up and waited for the floor to stop rushing at his face. Finally, it did and he stumbled over to the desk and began riffling through the papers and scrolls on it. "Oooh, what's this? Mission assignments?"

They were low-level missions; no Hokage would be reckless enough to bring anything near classified information out of the safety of the Hokage tower. Naruto flipped through them, landing on one that described a mission to a nearby village, to replace a sick kindergarten teacher for a day. Naruto smirked, it was assigned to Hinata. _She'd be pretty good at that, I think, but I know who'd be even better. _He carefully scraped away the name Hinata and replaced it with another, copying his father's rather messy penmanship. He would have gone on, but footsteps alerted him to the return of the grownups. Naruto pushed himself to his feet and made his way back to the bed, pulling the covers over his body just as the doorknob turned.

His father entered the room and gave Naruto an odd look. _Does he know I was up to something? _Next was Meara, who rushed over to him and immediately smothered him with hugs and kisses and questions, which Naruto took, endured and answered in turn until she was satisfied. Dr. Amuki and Arashi waited it out and when she was finished and sitting on Naruto's bed with her arm around his shoulders, Dr. Amuki cleared his throat.

"We have gotten all of the tests back," he began. "There was nothing to speak of in the blood tests—" At this, Naruto had to keep himself from gaping. _So, whoever's behind this not only repressed Kyuubi __so deep he got out, but he or she altered my blood so that it was completely human as well. I may be in over my head. _

"Naruto? Are you listening to Dr. Amuki?" His mother's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

He nodded vigorously. "Uh, sorry. I got lost in thought. Please, continue."

Once again, the obnoxious doc cleared his throat. "Well, the only test that showed anything up was this test." He said a large, complicated word that Naruto rolled his eyes at and handed a piece of paper to Arashi. "It detects unusual chakra or energy signatures in the body, ones that aren't native to the body."

"Not native?" Naruto repeated, looking at the paper, trying in vain to decipher the multi-colored blobs on the paper.

Dr. Amuki nodded. "Yes. When we did the scan, you'll see that there is a foreign energy signature in his brain, affecting the part of the brain that controls the conscious mind." He leaned forward and pointed at several purple blobs on the pictures.

_Whoever's behind this is messing with my brain to control what I __percieve__. That's more advanced than any genjutsu. I guess that's what Kyuubi meant when he said my mind was being warped. _Naruto scowled at the picture, trying to figure out what that meant.

Dr. Amuki continued. "I did some extra research, but could find no precedent for this kind of phenomenon. The only hint of a reference I could find was in an old book, detailing medical practices from around the world."

Meara took the paper from her husband's hands as he glanced up. "Where was this mentioned before?" he asked.

Amuki fixed his glasses. "Coincidentally, it was mentioned in connection with the Churaeah tribe."

At this Meara raised her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes." Dr. Amuki nodded. "It wasn't a direct reference, but it was the closest I found."

Arashi frowned. "So, other than this, you found absolutely nothing."

The doctor pushed his glasses up, shifted his feet and cleared his throat. "Uh, yes. As I said, there is no precedent for this or anything like—"

"Thank you, Doctor," Arashi interrupted, dismissing the man. Dr. Amuki clearly got the hint and and mumbled something incoherent before scuttling out.

"So," Meara murmured. "The only reference to this is from my family's tribe."

Arashi wandered through the room and eventually came to the other side of his wife. "I think its about time for a visit to them, anyway. We haven't been up there since before Raidon was born. What do you say?"

Meara glanced between the two blondes, her eyes resting on Naruto. "Sounds good to me. How about you? Do want to see your G.G. again?"

_G.G.?__ That must be some relative of mine or something? _Naruto grinned. "Sure. I'd love to see G.G. When do we leave?"

--------------------------------------------

"Do I have to?" Naruto wondered. He shuddered at the thought of what was to come. He was about to endure utter pain that no man should have to go through. His mother, his very own mother, was about to put him through the worst torture imaginable, worse than being captured by enemy-nins with laughing gas, worse than being a forest facing an army of over-caffeinated beavers. As stated, the worst thing imaginable.

Shopping.

Meara rolled her eyes. "Yes, you do." She grabbed his hand and dragged the teen forward.

Into the hell—the mall.

"Why do I need clothes? I _have _clothes!" Naruto complained.

"It's spring, Naruto. The tribe lives in the mountains and this time of year, it's still pretty cold. You need to be equipped for the cool weather," she explained, tugging her son through the store.

Naruto growled. "Don't I have winter clothes?"

"You had a growth spurt lately, or didn't you notice?" she asked.

"I have? Oh." Naruto thought and realized that, indeed, his pants had been moving up his calf for the past few weeks and his shirts had been getting a little bit tighter around the shoulders as well. _I wonder how tall I've __gotten?_

Seeing her point, he didn't give up, but tried a different tactic. "But, can't you get me clothes, well, like, without me having to be here?"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"I—"

"No."

Naruto opened his mouth.

"No."

Naruto sighed and waited a couple of minutes. "Where are we even gonna find winter clothes? I mean, who's selling them anymore?"

"That is why we are going to a tailor shop," she answered.

Naruto eyed his mother, coming to a realization. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

Meara laughed. "That's my job. We're here." Naruto stared at a small shop with the inventive title 'Konoha Tailor Shop' printed on the window in block letters. There was a picture of what was apparently, the proprietor in the corner of the window. He didn't look that old, but wore inch-thick glasses anyway. Naruto wondered how well he could see.

"Come on, honey," Meara said and started forward. Naruto took two steps following her and spun around, preparing to run. He took two strides in that direction and—

"Ooof!"

Tripped on something.

Or, rather, some_one._

Naruto managed not to crush the person he'd tripped on by throwing his hands out on either side of their head, so that he stopped in a push-up position above him.

Er, her?

"Hinata?"

The dark-haired girl blushed furiously as she stuttered, "N-Naruto, u-uh, um . . ."

Naruto grinned down at her. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Before Hinata could attempt to stammer out an answer, Meara grabbed Naruto's ear and dragged him up. "What do you _think _you are doing?!" she hissed into the currently twisted ear.

Naruto tried desperately not to whimper as his mother gave an extra hard yank on his abused auditory organ. "I-ow! just tripped! Ow!"

The woman glared at him, then gave a gentle glance to Hinata, who had pulled herself up and was standing in front of the pair, tapping her fingers together and blushing. "Did he really just trip over you, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded. "Y-yes, Mrs. Rajiri, I-I'm afraid I got in N-Naruto's way and he tripped over me b-by ac-accident," she murmured.

Meara let go of Naruto's ear with a "hmph." She smiled at Hinata. "Thank you for stopping my son from running away," she answered.

Hinata blushed and shifted on her feet. "Oh, i-it was n-no p-p-problem, really."

"Alright," Meara agreed. "Come on, you," she snapped at her son. "We have to get clothes."

Naruto spun around and grabbed Hinata's hand. "Hinata! Save me! Please! Help! Don't let her take me! Hinataaaaaaaaaa!"

Meara smacked Naruto hard on the top of the head. "Stop that!"

"But, but," Naruto trailed off, rubbing his abused head. "At least come with me," he implored the Hyuuga, employing his big blue eyes. "So she doesn't put me in something awful!"

Meara sighed and rolled her eyes, but Hinata asked, "W-what do you m-mean, N-Naruto?"

Naruto grinned. "We're going on a trip to my mom's family in the mountains and I need some winter clothes, since I grew out of mine," he explained. "Would you help me in there? Make sure I don't end up in uh, frills or something?"

"Frills? Naruto, I wouldn't put you in frills! For Kami's—"

"I know, but I need some moral support! Please, Hinata!"

"Well, I-I don't k-know—"

Naruto seized on it. "But that's not a no! Come on!" He once more clutched her hand and tugged her forward, striding into the tailor shop, Hinata blushing and Meara shaking her head.

"Hey! I need some clothes!" Naruto yelled upon stepping into the shop.

"Narutoooo," Meara moaned.

The shop owner came out of the back and raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Meara stepped forward and slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth before he could say something. "Hello, sir. My family is going on a trip and Naruto needs cold weather clothes, since he's grown out of his old ones. Sorry about him."

"How much will he need?" Mr. Motosuwa asked, reached for his tape measure.

"Oh, I don't know. The doctors said he was probably close to done growing, and I have my husband's credit card, so . . . let's go nuts and get him a whole wardrobe, just with a little room for adjustment, in case they were wrong and he grows some more," Meara grinned.

The tailor smiled back. "The first step is to measure him."

Naruto turned around and almost made a break for it, but Hinata was in his way again. _Oh, man,_ he thought as Meara grabbed his shoulder and dragged him elsewhere.

"D-don't worry, N-naruto," Hinata assured him as she followed. "I've done this before, for f-formal robes. It's over s-soon."

"Promise?" Naruto pouted.

Hinata blushed again and nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Hold out your arms," the tailor commanded.

Naruto obeyed and sighed. Mr. Motosuwa whipped his tape measure out and began, well, measuring. Naruto turned to Hinata. "So, how've you been?"

Hinata blushed. "Oh, w-well, I-I've been alright." She tapped her fingers together and inspected her feet.

The tailor scribbled things down in his little book and wrapped the measure around Naruto's waist. The measuree frowned. "Hey, Hinata, are you feeling okay?"

Hinata glanced up at him, then away. "I-I think so, why d-do you ask?"

The tailor measured from Naruto's armpit to his waist. "Well, you just look kinda red, that's all," he explained. Behind him, Meara closed her eyes and covered them with her hand.

At Naruto's statement, Hinata's face turned, if possible, even redder. "Oh, uh, I-"

"HEY! WATCH IT! WHADDAYA THINK YOU'RE TRYING TO DO!" Naruto howled at the tailor, who immediately backed away and gaped.

"_Naruto!"_

Naruto turned to his mother and pointed accusingly at Mr. Motosuwa. "He was trying to touch my—"

"He was trying to measure your _inseam!"_

Naruto stared at her, then spun to Hinata. "Did he try to measure your inseam, too?"

"_Naruto!"_Meara rose from her seat.

He spun back. "Whaaat? If he molested her the same way—"

Meara dragged him away. "Naruto! He is not molesting you! He has to measure your inseam!"

"What's an inseam?"

Meara sighed. "It is the length from the front of your pants to the back under your crotch. And Hinata said that she was here for formal robes, so no one measured an inseam on her."

Naruto relaxed. "Oh, okay."

He strode back to Mr. Motosuwa. "Sorry I yelled. You just took me by surprise." He grinned and jumped back up on the little raised circle he had been standing on. "You can keep going." He turned to Hinata. "Well, I guess nobody molested you, but if they ever do, let me know and I'll pound 'em into dirt!" Naruto emphasized this by smashing his fist into the palm of his hand.

Hinata blushed and Meara rolled her eyes again. In a couple of minutes, Mr. Motosuwa was done with no more problems. Naruto stepped down and threw himself into a chair. "Yeesh, I thought it would never be over. Can we go home now?"

"You were only up there for five minutes, Naruto," Meara sighed. "And no, we need to decide on what you need, what colors, what styles and how much."

Naruto made a face. "Ew."

The tailor came out with a larger notebook and several binders. Naruto moaned and shuddered. He scooted closer to Hinata and tried to grab her hand again, but Meara slapped his arm and he moved back to his seat.

"We have several styles of every clothing item here, as well as multiple fabrics," Mr. Motosuwa began.

"I'll need something durable to train in, and preferably orange," Naruto butted in. "In fact, could you make this?" He leaned forward and scribbled out a sketch of his old black and orange outfit he'd gotten when out with Jiraya.

Mr. Motosuwa raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I could, if that's what you really want."

Naruto nodded firmly. "Yep. Oh and maybe something to go with this?" He grabbed the pen out of the tailor's hand again and drew a long, sleeveless, orange cloak with the red swirls lining the bottom of it.

Meara frowned at it. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Uh, I don't know, it just came to me one night," Naruto shrugged. _I can't really tell her about my work with Lord __Chikao__ in the real world. That would freak her out a little bit, I think. _"I just think it looks cool."

"Do you want me to make the cloak as well, or just something to go with it?" Mr. Motosuwa asked.

"Oh, you can make the cloak, as well," Naruto conceded. He sat back in his chair, folded his hands and proceeded to count the tiles on the ceiling.

His mother's voice interrupted him at fifteen. "You know, a sleeveless anything won't do you any good in the mountain spring."

Naruto shrugged. "I know, but like you said, Dad gave you the credit card, so why not make it anyway?"

Meara laughed and ruffled his hair. "Fine with me."

Naruto frowned at the ceiling, and, having forgotten where he was, began recounting. When he was at one hundred and seventy-six, he ran out of tiles, so he figured he might want to tune back into the conversation. He turned back to the little square table, where Mr. Motosuwa, Meara and Hinata were all chatting excitedly about something.

"I don't know about this design," Meara hedged. She chewed on her lip and stared at a drawing on the table.

"No," Hinata murmured. "The design is alright. The color is all wrong, though. Naruto looks good in blue, but this is the wrong shade. He would look better in a much brighter, richer blue than this."

Naruto peeked over her shoulder. "Totally. I hate navy blue."

Hinata squeaked and fell out of the chair. "N-n-naruto! Wh-what are y-you d-doing behind m-me?"

"Huh? Oh, I ran out of ceiling tiles to count and decided to see what you guys were talking about," he explained. "Is this a kimono?"

Hinata pulled herself up and began tapping her fingers together. "O-oh, well, I-I have to go, anyway, m-my family was expecting me home s-soon." She ran out of the room and then out of the shop.

Naruto watched her go, frowning. "She sure is weird."

Meara smacked his head. "Naruto!"

The blonde rubbed his skull. "What? She kinda is! She's always stammering and blushing and she never looks me in the eye." He pouted. _At home, I wondered if she could somehow see Kyuubi inside me, but I don't have Kyuubi here, so I wonder if she just doesn't like me. _He frowned and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, you tired?" Meara asked.

Naruto raised his head and shrug-nodded. "Not really, but sorta. Just bored, I guess."

"You can go."

"Really?" Naruto checked his watch. "But I've only been here an hour."

Meara laughed. "That's about fifty minutes longer than your father usually lasts. You can go."

Naruto grinned and jumped up, sprinting out and through the mall to freedom


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 15

"Hey! You packed? You ready? We're leaving first thing in the morning to get a head start, so be ready, okay? Great! Wait, do we have extra blankets? It can get cold on the way up there!"

Minato sped off in a flash of yellow. Naruto, laying on his bed and studying a scroll, watched him go with an eyebrow raised. A second later, Tama appeared in the doorway, looking slightly frazzled. "You're lucky. He pestered me for twenty minutes about everyone's proper footwear." She rolled her eyes and sat on his bed.

"Do you think they make ritalin for adults?" Naruto asked.

Tama snorted. "If they did, you'd probably be on it, too."

He grinned. "No way. No drug could ever dampen my energy and spirit."

"Yeah, no drug, just shopping," she teased. "Like when Mom took you to the tailor yesterday because you grew out of your old winter clothes."

Naruto moaned and buried his face in a pillow. "Don't mention that! I had some darn scary dreams last night!"

Tama laughed. "Oh, grow up! It could've been worse. Sometimes, when he's making the clothes, he'll have you come and try them on and you have to stand there with the unfinished clothes on while he makes adjustments."

"Aaaaaugggggh!" Naruto fell back on the bed, writhing in pain.

"Its too easy to tease you, Naruto," Tama laughed. "It was actually surprising that he was able to get you clothes so quickly." She stood and wandered over to his pack, which was filled with several newly-made outfits for him. She pulled one out, a pair of thick, wool black pants and a matching black jacket with blue flames coming off the bottom and a long-sleeved blue shirt underneath it. "You'll have the girls falling all over you in this."

"Huh?"

She threw the blue shirt at him. "Mom has always said that blue brings out your eyes. Your fangirls will go nuts if they see you in this," she commented. Tama flopped down on his bed. "How are you feeling, Naruto?"

"I'm fine," he muttered. _Fangirls__ I thought only __emo__ guys like Sasuke or Neji get __fangirls_

"Naruto," she insisted. "This is important and probably scary. Nobody here knows what's wrong with you. How are you dealing with it?" Her green eyes bored into him.

He shifted uncomfortably and grabbed his scroll again. "I said I'm fine. I'm not gonna freak out until I know what's going on, okay? Then you can worry."

She sighed. "Okay. You take care. You've always taken care of me and now I feel like I need to take care of you, even though you are my older brother, by one minute." Tama stood up and wandered out of his room, throwing a "good night" over her shoulder.

"'Night," he answered, returning to his scroll. It was about a B-ranked genjutsu that not only messed with the victim's chakra, but his inner ear as well, making him feel like he was being spun around. The idea was that with the feeling of spinning, it would be more difficult for him to focus on stopping his chakra from rotating. Naruto knew he needed to work on genjutsu, it was his weakest area, easily.

Naruto frowned at the scroll, studying the hand seals and the order. He thought through the meaning behind each of the seals and practiced them individually. When he felt that he had them down and could move reasonably quickly through them, Naruto summoned up a shadow clone and tried the jutsu on it.

At first, it had no effect, so Naruto tried putting more chakra into it and eventually, something happened, but it took another five tries with much studying in between before the other Naruto instantly got dizzy and began to stumble around the room. Naruto grinned. _I did it! _But then the clone knocked over a bookshelf and all of the books fell to the floor with a resounding crash. Naruto winced and glanced at the clock.

_2:34 AM!!!! _

He leapt up and threw open the door. His father was standing there in a robe, looking rather bleary-eyed. "Huh?"

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. Just knocked some stuff over."

Minato peeked past his son's arm to see the shadow clone sprawled out on the floor, eyes nothing but swirls from the genjutsu. "Are you practicing that genjutsu I gave you the scroll for?"

The teen nodded sheepishly. "I guess time got away from me."

"I guess. Go to bed now. We have a long day ahead. When we stop for nightfall tomorrow, I'll help you with it, if you need, okay?" Minato rubbed an eye.

Naruto nodded again. "Okay." He closed the door after his father stumbled away. The blonde dispersed the clone and changed into his favorite blue flannel pajamas. Within seconds after climbing into bed, he was asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"

Naruto winced and growled at the obnoxious voice and at the early morning sunlight now spearing his eyes since presumably the owner of the voice yanked them open. He shielded his eyes and pried one open to see a blue blob with yellow spikes on top standing by his bed. Rubbing the sleepers from his eyes, Naruto then saw his father.

"Go away."

Minato shook his head. "No can do, little man—"

Naruto growled at being called 'little man.' "I'm taller than you now, you know."

"What! You are not!"

Naruto clambered out of bed and stood nose-to-nose with his father. More accurately, Minato's nose was at about the level of Naruto's mouth, proving that the son was indeed now several inches taller than his father. "The tailor two days ago said I just topped six feet," Naruto bragged, knowing the Hokage was only 5'10".

"Ah well." Minato shrugged. "I know. I just wanted to get you out of bed." He grinned. "Come on. And don't get back in bed."

Naruto smacked his forehead. _How could I__ have fallen for that_But he followed his father anyway. "You do know that it's five-thirty _in the morning?_"

"Yep. We need to do some final preparations before everyone else wakes up. Come ooon!" Minato all but danced into the living room, where multiple packs were sitting lined up like ducks in a row. _Where did that come from? Do ducks move in rows? _

Naruto sighed. "They look pretty packed to me," he muttered.

"Not those," Minato waved them off. "Your mother wants us to pack some other stuff. She left us this list and very specific instructions."

The teen scratched the back of his head. "Why didn't Mom pack them?"

"You know she doesn't handle long trips well. She needs her rest," the Hokage answered. "That's a long list, so we better get started."

Naruto sighed and took a quick look at it, but one word jumped out to him. "Ramen? Mom wants us to pack ramen?"

"Uhh . . . yes?"

Naruto folded his arms. "Mom didn't write this list, did she? You copied her handwriting." He squinted at it. "Poorly."

"I did a really good job, considering how bad my real handwriting is," Minato pouted.

"That's true," Naruto conceded. "Your regular writing does suck. Really bad."

"Not that bad."

"A blind monkey could do better."

" . . . now you're just being mean."

Naruto grinned at him. "So?"

"So, you get to do all of the packing," he returned with a smirk. "I'm going back to bed. Get going."

Naruto grumbled for his sake, but then sat down and gave the list a good look. And crossed off half of it. One hour later, he set the finished pack next to the others. _One more __duckie__ in the line.__Duckie__ What am I? __Five?__ I need to go back to sleep. _

Unfortunately, when Naruto got up to his bed, he discovered it had been overtaken by a dog, a fox, and two cats and that the goat was chewing on his bedspread. "Damn. I liked that comforter." He shifted one of the cats over, ignoring the hissing, kneed the dog out of the way and managed to curl around the other two animals, giving up the sheets to the goat. _What are their names again? Oh well._

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _

Naruto was once again rudely awakened by a blue blob with yellow spikes, but this time it was shorter and louder.

"Raaidon!" Naruto threw him off and sat up, disturbing the menagerie of animals. "What do you want?"

"Everybody but you is up! Come on! Come on! Come on! Get up!" He jumped on the bed, very reminiscent of the first time he woke Naruto up.

Naruto jumped out of bed and dragged Raidon out of his room. "To get going I need to get dressed. Tell Mom and Dad I'll be there in a minute."

A minute later, Naruto wandered downstairs in blue pants with an orange stripe down each leg, a blue t-shirt and his Chuunin vest. His kunai holder was wrapped around his right thigh, his weapons pouch was on his waist and his forehead protector was tied securely.

"Naruto!"

He shrugged. "What?"

Meara sighed and began to shush him out of the room. "You can't wear your ninja gear on vacation! Go change!" She shoved him back up the stairs.

Grumbling, Naruto turned around and stomped up the stairs. Still grumbling a minute later, Naruto wandered down the stairs in one of his new tailor-made outfits, a pair of dark blue jeans and a green hoodie. As soon as he hit the last step, Naruto was blinded by a photo flash. "Augh! What the hell?"

"Watch your language!" Meara admonished, winding the camera. "I promised Mr. Motosuwa that I'd take pictures of you in your new outfits since there wasn't time to try them on." She snapped another picture.

Naruto rolled his eyes and continued down the stairs. "You won't need that sweatshirt just yet, honey," Meara continued, taking another couple pictures from the back. "Those jeans fit you really well," she commented.

"Mom!"

"Well, they do. The tailor did an excellent job," she answered. "And we won't get into the mountains until tomorrow. You can take that sweatshirt off."

"Oh." Naruto tugged the hoodie off and tied it around his waist, ignoring the clicking of the camera as his mother photographed the red t-shirt.

"Mr. Motosuwa makes excellent clothes," Meara muttered. She put the camera away and began to fuss about something else. "Family Meeting!" She clapped her hands and repeated the mantra. Everyone came into the living room and sat down. Naruto noticed that even his father was wearing civilian clothes. And looked completely uncomfortable.

"Okay, checklist!" Meara sat down with a notepad. "Does everyone have their toothbrushes packed?"

A chorus of "yes"es answered.

"Pajamas?"

"Yes."

"Shampoo?"

"Yes."

"Extra socks?"

"Yes."

She continued through the list for the next fifteen minutes. "Okay," she finished, putting the list down. "If you forgot anything else, its your fault. I'll make breakfast and we'll go."

Which they did. The family set off with a final warning from the woman of the house. "If you have to go to the bathroom, go now because the next time we see real bathroom will be when we stop for lunch in four hours!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lunch in four hours, however, didn't exclude a mid-morning snack break. Naruto let his pack onto the ground and settled down to eat his snack, which unfortunately wasn't ramen. He stuffed the rice ball into his mouth and sighed through it.

His father sat down next to him. "I know. We're used to moving almost continuously at a much faster pace, but enjoy this chance to relax while traveling. Take a look at the world around you."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but decided to take his father's advice and improve his observation skills. He scanned the foliage around their picnic area. _Okay. What are all of these plants? _

His eyes landed on a certain plant with flowers._Hmm.__ What is that plant?_

_Chamomile._

_Huh? Where did that come from? Chamomile is an herb, I know. It's good for making calming teas and it helps calm an upset stomach. Wow. I must have read that somewhere and not thought of it until now. I wonder what else I learned. _

Naruto spent the rest of the half-hour break identifying plants he didn't know he knew. _I wonder why I never noticed I knew all of this before. _He figured it was because he'd never paid any attention to plants before. _This is cool. It's like I have a plant dictionary in my head or something. _

"Naruto!"

He snapped out of his plant-identifying trance and jumped up, grabbing his pack again. As he followed his father in formation, Naruto tried to think back to when he might have read the book on herbs, how he got all of that information in his head. Thinking _really _far back, he vaguely remembered a big, heavy book with hand-drawn pictures and long descriptions. _I remember that now, I think. When did I read that? _

Before he could recall when he read the dictionary encyclopedia, his spine tingled. He had learned in his time in here that when it felt like his spine was itching, trouble was coming. He didn't need his sixth sense back in the real world because Kyuubi would usually alert him if he was in danger.

Naruto kept his head down and his gait steady, but he sent a little bit of chakra into his ears to listen more carefully. He detected their chakra signatures behind him and he knew that they weren't ANBU guards, because he'd memorized the family's usual guards, so he pretended to trip and land on the ground.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Kenji asked, grabbing his elbow.

Naruto grinned up at him and nodded. He had sent his chakra through the ground and into the trees behind him. "Yeah, go on ahead." He now knew that there were five ninjas behind him, and at least three were Jounin level based on their chakra levels. Naruto stood and let the rest of the family go by him. He ended up walking next to Raidon, who had fallen behind because he'd been collecting rocks. The boy now had an armful of interesting-looking rocks. _He'd want to keep those in his arms and that would slow him down if he needed to run. _

"Hey, Raidon," Naruto said, reaching into his pack. He pulled out a spare laundry bag that his mother had stuffed in. "Put your rocks in here."

"Cool!" The little blonde grabbed the makeshift knapsack and dumped all of his rocks into it.

"Here, I'll carry it," Naruto offered. He took the bag and slung it over his right shoulder. Clutched between the fingers of his left hand were short senbon needles with poisoned tips. Genma had taught him how to carry the needles so that they wouldn't poke or poison him.

Up ahead, he knew that his father would have noticed the ninjas by now, same as him. His mother was probably oblivious. She wasn't a trained ninja and she was very relaxed on this trip. Tama might have noticed, she was a ninja, but these guys were good and it didn't look like she was too alert. Same with Kenji and, well, Raidon had absolutely no clue.

Naruto kept his senses alert as Raidon stopped and dumped more rocks into the knapsack. Naruto knew that if they were to attack him, they would do it then, when he would be hard-pressed to defend both himself and Raidon, or go on the offensive without getting the boy in the way of the attack.

This tense attitude and alertness continued for the next hour and a half, at which point, the family stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. Naruto sat next to Raidon, still, and across from Kenji. Tama was on Raidon's other side and Meara and Minato were next to Kenji.

Lunch went by very quickly and because of the arrangement, Naruto couldn't speak to or give his father any signs. He did, however, manage to get a message to Kenji, who, as suspected, had no idea that they were being followed. The message consisted of kicking his shin until he looked at Naruto, then giving him shifty eyes and a glare. The kid got it and scanned the area. Naruto could tell when he'd detected the ninjas because his shoulders tensed and he bit his lip.

After an uneventful meal, the Namikaze family stood and continued on their journey. Naruto spent the next several hours in tense anticipation of when they would attack, but nothing came until Raidon decided he needed to go to the bathroom.

"Here," the boy said, dumping a new pile of rocks at Naruto's feet.

Naruto grumbled and knelt to pack the rocks away.

"Hey, Naruto, I gotta go to the bathroom," he chirped and ran off into the woods.

"Raidon! No!"

At the front of the small procession, Minato tensed and readied to move, but Naruto dropped the bag of rocks and sprinted forward, clamping a hand on the boy's shoulder. Raidon looked up at him, pouting. "Hey! That hurts!"

_Shoot. If they didn't know that we knew, they sure do know. Well, nothing for it. _Naruto eased up on his grip, realizing it would probably leave a bruise. He grinned. "Sorry, I just wanted to _warn you_ before you did anything _stupid._"

Raidon blinked up at him. "Huh?"

"Well, there are some plants and stuff that could _hurt you _if you use them," Naruto explained. _Obvious as hell, but maybe they're really stupid. _

"Hurt me? Like what?"

Naruto nodded. "Well, unless you've got some toilet paper in your pocket, I—"

Raidon grinned and whipped out some folded up sections of toilet paper.

Naruto stared down at the tissues in his brother's hands. He opened his mouth and closed it several times before forcing out a "Never mind."

The little blonde boy spun around and hurried into the woods. Sometime during the conversation, Naruto had created a couple of clones in the woods and they now kept an eye out for anyone who came near the boy, facing away from him, of course. The real Naruto stared at the spot where Raidon had disappeared, then glanced at his father. They shared a look of amusement, frustration and fear.

Meara, who was completely unaware of the danger, laughed. "Only Raidon. Only he would bring toilet paper with him on this trip."

Naruto nodded dumbly. Here he was, all prepared to give the kid a speech about poison ivy and poison oak, and then he brings his own toilet paper._ Heck, why didn't I think of that? _

Through the telepathic link, he could sense that Raidon was still safe. When the boy scurried back out of the woods, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He scooped up the bag of rocks and the family set out again.

Naruto had the clones discreetly transform and begin to tail the ninjas tailing them. The next few hours were again fraught with tension. The clones kept on the trail of the ninjas behind them. So far, they weren't doing anything, just following the family. They weren't any ninjas Naruto recognized and they wore no forehead protectors, scratched or not.

_A mystery we have here, _Naruto mused. _Why would they follow, but not attack? What are they doing? Who are they? _

Again, Naruto spent hours antsy and tense, barely resisting the urge to turn over his shoulder and attack the ones following him. After another couple hours of walking, the little troupe arrived at a small town, with a single hotel in it. "This is it," Minato murmured.

The six of them wandered inside. Naruto, still anxious about the ninjas, took in immediate stock of the inn. The lobby area was small, but large windows and warm, earthy colors made the place seem bigger than it really was. There was a small couch by one window, with a table in front of it and a cushy-looking armchair next to it. The front desk was just that, a simple, wooden desk with a file cabinet behind it. There was a hallway leading off to what Naruto presumed to be the rooms they would be staying in. All in all, it was a very cozy little place to stay. But that didn't mean Naruto was letting his guard down.

There was no one there, though. Minato looked around and stepped up to the desk. On it, there was a little bell, the kind where you push the button on the top and a little bell inside rings. The Hokage reached up and pressed down on the little knob you press down on, expecting a little _ping._

"_Gaaaawooooooogaaaaaaaa__."_

All six of the Namikazes leapt up about a foot into the air. The owner came rushing out of the hallway, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed.

"Sorry, I just rolled out of bed," he grinned sheepishly. "I—uh, huh?"

Naruto blinked down at the inn's owner from his position on the ceiling, where he'd jumped at the sound of the fog horn. "Sorry." He muttered and let himself down.

"Uh, um," the owner stuttered. "Yes, well, what are your reservations for?"

Minato stepped forward and began to speak to the owner in low tones. Naruto wandered over to the cushy chair he'd noticed earlier and flopped down into it. "Jumpy much?" Tama asked.

Naruto scowled. "What tipped you off?"

Tama smiled and just grabbed his hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

After a few minutes of talking, Minato came back. "Alright," he grinned. "This place only has three rooms. So, we—" He indicated himself and Meara. "--will have one room, Tama will have her own room and the three boys will have the last room." He shrugged. "Sorry."

Naruto caught a look in his father's eyes. _So, he changed the rooms so that I could keep an eye on Raidon and Kenji. _He smiled back, indicating he'd gotten the message.

The owner showed them to their rooms. Naruto scowled at the two beds in the room. They were really small. "So," he murmured. "One of us will be sleeping on the floor."

"Naruto." He spun around at the sound of the Hokage's voice. Minato tilted his head in a 'follow me' action and walked down the hall, kneeling in front of a duffel bag and pretending to show Naruto a broken zipper. "Do you understand everything?"

Naruto nodded. "Where are the ANBU?" he muttered, rather ticked that, during his stay here, the ANBU had been ridiculously lax in their guard of the Hokage's family.

"I don't know." Minato's mouth tightened at this. "Something's been wrong with them lately; I'm sure you've noticed. Whoever those guys behind us are, they would have to be pretty strong to take out ANBU and I didn't sense a battle at any point."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and leaned in closer to the zipper. "I created several shadow clones that transformed and have been following the ninjas behind us."

"Since?"

"When Raidon went to the bathroom," Naruto explained._Although, man it's a drain on my chakra.__ Damn. My chakra reserves are low without __Kyuubi's__ boost._ He was now tugging on the "broken" zipper. "And I really think that the ninjas can see through this 'broken zipper' charade."

Minato nodded. "I'm sure they can, this is for your mother. She has no idea and as long as they aren't doing anything, I'd like to keep it that way."

"Hn." Naruto pulled the zipper back and forth. "If she finds out, she'll kill you."

"Oh, be quiet." Minato stood up and dusted off his hands, as if having fixed it. Naruto rolled his eyes and stomped back to his room. Upon arriving there, he immediately saw that Raidon and Kenji had commandeered the two beds.

"Great. I get the floor. Thanks, Dad."


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Naruto scowled and punched his pillow hard, trying to get it more comfortable and more like a pillow than a pancake. All night, he'd been falling asleep, but waking up less than twenty minutes later out of nowhere. He shifted and rolled over on the hard floor.

_I don't get why I'm having such trouble sleeping. I never did before. I've slept on trees, on boats, on the ground, on rocks. Why can't I sleep on this? __Grrr_

The teen rolled over again and cleared his throat. _Ah, I can't sleep anyway. _He got up, detangling his legs from the sheets and stalked to the bathroom, filling up a small cup with tapwater. He drank it down, glad for the liquid. Naruto stretched and yawned, despite his temporary insomnia, he really was quite tired; keeping transformed shadow clones going for hours was darn tiring. Just then did Naruto realize something.

_The clones!_

Naruto slammed the glass down. _That's what kept waking me up! The ninjas found and destroyed my clones one by one! __Damnit_

_But how did they know when I fell asleep? _

Dread spread in his stomach as the only possible conclusion came to his mind.

Naruto spun and sprinted back to his room, his heart pounding. He arrived at the door and tried to open it, only to find it locked. "Damnit!" Naruto pulled back and slammed his heel into a point on the door, with just enough force to pop it open. Unfortunately, the door was still broken and the crash sounded down the hall.

Ignoring the startled sounds from the other rooms, Naruto pushed past the remains of a once-proud door and took in the scene in the room. A ninja was half out the window, Raidon draped over one arm, the boy somehow still asleep. Naruto threw himself forward as the ninja leapt out the window. He grabbed a small pouch filled with tools.

"DAD!" Naruto howled. If these guys were that good, he'd need help. Without thinking, Naruto created a shadow clone and followed the ninja. Back in the hotel, the clone woke Kenji and dragged him into the hallway, where the rest of the family was gathered. Seeing through it immediately, Minato followed Naruto's path into the room and out the window.

Naruto sprinted after the ninja with his brother. He knew his father wouldn't be far behind. Suddenly, the ninja stopped and spun to face Naruto. Having read his actions and knowing it was probably a trap, Naruto leaped into the air a good thirty feet and looked down. _I wish I could throw kunai, but that damn ninja would just move Raidon so that I'd hit him instead. What can __I—__Damn! _

From the trees below, a barrage of kunai and shuriken came up at him from at least five directions. Doing the last thing any of them expected, Naruto whipped out his senbons and hurled several back through the onslaught. He heard several ninjas fall and in the next instant, reached down and tapped the hidden weights around his ankles to increase their weight. He dropped like a rock, the rain of weapons going straight over his head. Naruto grinned and continued plummeting toward the ground.

Another ninja was down there waiting for him. Before Naruto hit the ground, however, the ninja did some hand signs and slammed his palms into the ground. "Ninja style: Swampland Transformation!" A huge swamp, much like the one Jiraya created, appeared beneath the falling boy.

_Damn! _This was inconvenient, but having trained with the old pervert for three years, Naruto had developed ways to get around his oft-used jutsus. Naruto did a couple of handsigns and threw his hands down, so that the palms were facing the rapidly approaching ground. "Restoration Jutsu: Earth Style!"

Immediately, the still-solid ground surrounding the swamp seemed to rise up and throw itself into the swamp, filling the hole and sending the water sloshing out.

_Damn! I don't have enough chakra to completely fill it in. _So instead of generating a firm, but slightly muddy terrain, Naruto had created a circle of earth with quicksand properties, and he was headed right for the center of it._ Aw, man, the same thing happened the first time I tried this against __Ero__-__Sennin_An _instant _before he landed in it, Naruto reached down and lightened the ankle weights.

_Splash_!

Naruto sank into the dangerous patch of ground. _Okay, you know what to do with quicksand. _Naruto leaned back, letting himself float. _But damn! The last time, I created about twenty shadow clones __who__ sank beneath me and I was able to push off of them! _

"Uh-oh!" The other ninja grinned. "Looks like your stuck. Your little move didn't work too well, now did it?"

The blonde threw the other man a cocky grin. "Oh, yeah, how do you know?" Naruto had managed to keep his arms above water and ran through the first jutsu that came to his mind, the genjutsu he'd learned last night. Just like with the clone, the ninja was immediately dizzy and began stumbling around. To Naruto's delight, he tripped and fell face-first into the quicksand.

"What the?" another ninja yelled, emerging from the woods. He sprinted forward to help his friend, but a flash of yellow streaked over Naruto's head and slammed into him. The missing-nin sailed back, unconscious from the first blow.

"Dad!"

The Hokage spun around and started to go for his son, but the clearing they were in was suddenly filled with missing nins, one of whom still held Raidon, by now wide awake and terrified. Naruto felt his heart contract as his dream flashed before his eyes.

"_Choose." _

Naruto blinked and shook his head, trying to focus.

"Let him go." This was the command of a Hokage. Clearly some of the ninjas understood that and ran, terrified. Naruto began to bring his arms together slowly, ignoring the conversation between his father and the one who held Raidon. He had just clasped his hands together when the clearing was filled with bright, blinding yellow.

Naruto winced and closed his eyes. _My god.__So much chakra._Naruto forced his eyes back open to see a figure, surrounded by the yellow chakra. Suddenly, all the chakra and the brightness condensed around the figure. _Dad._ Standing behind him, somehow, was Raidon, who Minato had managed to grab from the leader a moment ago. "Raidon, close your eyes." He obeyed.

The remaining ninjas gulped. Some tried to flee, but Minato simply glowed brighter yellow and held out his hand and the ninjas were caught in a jutsu. This happened several times before Naruto realized that his father _was _making the handsigns necessary, he was just doing them too fast for the human eye to see.

Naruto and Raidon watched in awe as, seemingly out of nowhere, frogs the size of houses sprang up in puffs of smoke and pinned running ninjas down or grabbed them with tongues. Minato moved in a flash of yellow and disappeared; two seconds later, five ninjas who had refused to run were caught in the Headhunter's jutsu Kakashi had used against Sasuke in the bell test.

A group of about ten ninjas whipped out kunai, shuriken and assorted other weapons and charged the Hokage. He ducked, dodged and danced out of the way, giving each man a blow in between. Ten hits, ten ninjas down. Naruto gaped.

After a minute of fighting, the only missing-nin left was the leader, the one that had been holding Raidon. The leader grinned. "Well, I see a desk job hasn't dulled your skills any, Minato. Let's just see how good you really are."

The leader, name still unknown to Naruto, pushed himself forward. Minato responded with the same, holding his right hand back. The leader made a few hand signs and opened his mouth to yell something. Minato thrust his right hand forward into the leader's chest. At the last moment, Naruto saw a blue ball of swirling chakra form.

"RASENGAN!"

The leader howled as his chest was ripped open by the powerful Rasengan, all jutsus and insults forgotten. The two men flew back until they hit a tree, at which point the Hokage pushed harder, driving a hole straight through the leader's chest and partially killing the tree behind him. He cut the Rasengan. The leader, dead as a doorknob, slumped over Minato's arm, still thrust through his chest. Naruto stared, open-mouthed as his father drew his bloodied arm away. The leader fell to the ground.

Minato turned around and pulled a cloth out of somewhere. With it, he wiped the blood off of his face. Naruto shook himself out of his stupor and managed to grab the body of the ninja that had fallen into the quicksand. Using it as leverage, Naruto began to drag himself up and out of the quicksand. Minato held out a hand, which Naruto gratefully grabbed.

"Thanks." He muttered. Naruto's face flushed slightly, unable to look his father in the eye. _I wasn't of any help. All I did was __get__ in the way. _

Minato put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey. Don't beat yourself up."

"But—"

"Stop it. You are only a Chuunin, no one expects you to fight everyone. And good job with that genjutsu."

Naruto looked away, not convinced. Minato looked ready to say something else, but Raidon interrupted. "Can I open my eyes now?"

Minato let go of Naruto and wrapped his arms around the smaller blonde. "Yes, its alright now." Raidon threw himself into his father's arms. "Shhh. Shhh. I'm here. You're safe now."

As the boy snuffled into his father's shoulder, Minato stood up. "Naruto, how long would it take you to get back to the village at top speed?"

"A couple of hours," Naruto answered.

He nodded. "Good, get changed and then go get ANBU. They'll arrest these idiot. I can hold them until you get back."

Naruto nodded and spun around, running back to the inn.

Naruto landed in the inn and was instantly barraged by questions from Tama, Kenji and Meara.

"What happened?"

"Is everyone alright?"

"Who was hurt?"

"What's going on?"

"Where's your father?"

Naruto held up his hands and snapped out, "Some missing-nins attacked and Dad fought them off. They're the only ones injured." He sprinted up the stairs and changed clothes quickly, into a ninja outfit he'd snuck into his pack. He hurried back down the stairs and saw that his father was there with Raidon.

Meara turned to him as he hit the landing. "Naruto, wait—"

"No can do, sorry Mom," he answered, sprinting out of the small inn. He pushed off the ground and landed on a tree branch in the forest. He began to fly through the trees swiftly, landing on a tree branch and pushing off it, sailing for several hundred yards and then repeating the process.

_Damn! What was wrong with me back there? Every time I turn around, I need someone to save me! __Naw__, I shouldn't say that, I win some fights! At the very last minute, nearly killing myself every time! _

_Let's review, the fight with __Gaara__, last minute, nearly died multiple times. Check. _

_When I protected Tsunade from __Kabuto__? Hell, talk about last minute! And he practically killed me! I still don't know how she pulled off that healing. _

_Valley of the End fight?__ I didn't even _win _that one! Forget last minute and nearly dying, although those were present, too._

_Pretty much every fight with __Akatsuki__ Yeah, not sure how I'm still breathing after all the fights I've had with them. _

_Damn. _

_I am so sick of winning fights only when everything is on the line! When __its__ the darkest hour and I don't have another choice! _

_How weak am I that unless my back is pressed up against a wall, I'm useless? _

_I should be strong enough that I don't have to be backed into a corner to do something! _

_I will be strong enough. _

_I don't care how hard, how long I have to train, I will be stronger!_

I will be!

Two hours later, Naruto skidded to a stop at the big wooden gates of Konoha. They were closed for the night, and Naruto grabbed the shoulder of the guard who was standing there. "I need to get in and get to ANBU! The Hokage was attacked."

The guard shouted out what must have been a code word. Instantly, the door opened a crack, just enough for all of them to get inside. Naruto was immediately surrounded by several ANBU and ninjas of various ranks. He held up his hands.

"Wait, the Hokage's family was attacked at a small, roadside inn, about thirty miles north of here. There are multiple missing nins captured and possibly in need of medical attention."

An ANBU captain with a full five-man squad appeared next to Naruto. "Can you take us there?"

Naruto nodded and they went to the gate. An uproar rose from the surrounding ninjas. The ANBU captain held up his hand and silence reigned. "No arguments." The rest of the ninjas grumbled a bit, but Naruto didn't pay any attention as he and the ANBU were already on their way.

_Shoot. This is gonna be hard. I'm already tired from running here, now the ANBU are going to push me harder to get there faster. I remember once, running faster than I'd ever run before, when I was training with __Ero__-__Sennin__. When was it? I need to repeat that, now. _

Naruto scowled and tried to think back to what he was feeling at that time. _A huge sense of urgency.__ I needed to get there _now. _Okay, I just need to bring that back. _Naruto closed his eyes for half a second and concentrated on that memory.

Suddenly, his body felt completely different, like he was a hundred times lighter. He pushed off a tree branch and immediately, he flew past half of the ANBU, who started in amazement. The captain, Wolf, glanced behind and made a movement with his hand. The rest of the squad matched Naruto's pace. Naruto grinned.

_This speed feels great. __Like I'm made for it, built for it._

_Is this what Dad feels like when he moves so fast? _

_I know he's called the "Yellow Flash" and I saw his speed earlier tonight. It must be genetic. Does that mean I have a __Kekkei__ Genkai? That would be so cool! I'll have to get Dad to tell me about it. _

About an hour later, Naruto realized they were only a few miles out. _Wow. This is incredible speed, getting there took twice as long as getting back. Hey! I love this! _

Ten minutes later, they arrived in force at the inn. The innkeeper was sitting in a corner, just staring at the invading ninjas. Naruto showed three of the ANBU where the battle had taken place and they began to arrest the still-captured missing nins.

Naruto wandered back to the inn. His family was all gathered in his parents' room. Raidon was snuggled in between Minato and Meara; someone had dragged a cot into the room and Tama was resting on it and Kenji was curled up in a chair next to the fire. Naruto wandered over to the window seat, sat down, and, removing his headband, leaned his forehead against the cool pane of glass.

"If you sleep there, you'll get a crick in your neck," Minato murmured.

Naruto made no reply.

"Wolf told me that on the way back, you were going slow for the first mile or so, then suddenly you picked up the pace. What happened?"

Naruto shifted on the seat, not looking at his father. "Did the ANBU figure out who those guys were?"

There was a moment of silence as Minato acknowledged Naruto didn't want to talk about it, for some reason. "Yes, they were the rest of Mizuki's group."

The teen frowned. "But they weren't wearing their headbands."

"I know. I think that was to confuse us, but they confessed to being part of the group Mizuki was a part of."

Naruto chewed on his lip. "I still don't understand, why were they attacking us?"

Minato sighed. Naruto heard movement behind him and knew Minato was getting up off the bed, gently setting his youngest son down next to Meara. He came up behind Naruto and laid a hand on his shoulder. "All of them had relatives that had died on missions. Missions I assigned them too. They blamed me for their loved ones' deaths, being unable to handle the grief on their own."

Naruto scowled. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Is it?"

Naruto whipped his head around and met his father's eyes. He sucked in a breath. Usually, Minato's eyes were gentle, not soft, but not hard. Even when wearing the Hokage robes, his eyes held kindness in them that made the man approachable. But now . . .

_But now, they're like lasers. I can almost physically feel them piercing through me. _

"Is it, Naruto? Is it the dumbest thing you've ever heard?"

Naruto fought the urge to shudder.

"When someone loses the one person in the world they love most, their reason for living, sometimes, it is simply too hard to accept their death, so they turn to anger. They focus, not on healing, but on retribution. You can't understand; you haven't experienced loss like that. Like the most vital part of your being ripped away and shredded into a million pieces. For some people, it is too much to handle."

_Sasuke.__ Is that what Sasuke went through, when Itachi killed his family? Is that what he felt, why he ended up the way he did? _

"Never, _never, _belittle another's grief, Naruto. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded.Minato closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the blue orbs were no longer sharp and intense, but rather unfocused and distant. "Besides, if you think about it, they have a right to be angry."

Naruto sat up straight. "What?"

"Well, if I hadn't sent those people on missions, they never would have died."

Naruto stared at his father a moment, then with a glance to make sure the rest of the family was still asleep, hauled back and clocked him.

Minato's head snapped to one side. Naruto distinctly heard the sound of bone crunching and knew it wasn't his knuckles. The Hokage stumbled and threw his left hand out to steady himself while his right one went up to his probably broken jaw. He gaped at Naruto, who simply folded his arms over his chest.

"Bull."

Minato blinked. "Huh?"

"What you just said, it's bull!" Naruto yell/whispered. "And you know it. Every single person who died on a mission knew what he was getting into when he agreed to be a ninja! They knew the risks and so did their families! If they really wanted retribution, they should have gone after the people that actually murdered them. They are just cowards, going after your family because they can't get to you or to the ninjas who killed their loved ones! Did you kill them? No! Do their families have any right to be angry at you? NO! So don't say anything like that ever again, or I'll hit you harder!" To prove his point, he raised his bruised fist and shook it in Minato's face. "You got it?"

His father just stared at him. "Well?" Naruto demanded again. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Minato murmured. He gently rubbed his jaw.

Naruto shook his head and sat back down in the window seat after his little tirade. "That is probably the _stupidest _thing I've heard you say."

Still bemused, Minato responded with, "Sorry."

Naruto gave a sharp nod. "Good. You should be. Now, get back to sleep, we'll have a full day tomorrow."

Minato got into bed on autopilot, still giving Naruto strange looks. _Damn. Did I knock his brain loose or something? _

Naruto sighed and settled into a comfortable position. _Huh. Why bother even sleeping? It's almost dawn anyway, and I'll need to do some training if I'm going to be stronger._

_But, thinking about that fight, wow. _

_I never realized how amazing he is. _

_I couldn't even see him doing hand signs, he was so fast. The only person who's that fast is Kakashi, and, even though his hands are a blur, you can still see them. _

_But it didn't even look like Dad's hands were moving. _

_His frogs, too.__ He summoned at least ten house-sized frogs and kept them here for over three hours. Without even trying!_

_And his taijutsu! I've never seen anyone move like that! He wasted no energy, or movements, he took out each ninja with just one hit! _

_And then there's his Rasengan. _

_I can't believe how quickly he formed, literally at the last moment, but it was so powerful that it ripped right through the leader's chest and the tree behind him!_

_It makes my Rasengan look like child's play. _

_There were thirty ninjas there, and nearly half were Jounin level. _

_But he took them out in under a minute! _

_Is there really that much of a difference between Jounin and __Kage_

_If there is, I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready to be Hokage. _

Naruto closed his eyes and rested his forehead on his knees. He didn't intend to go to sleep, but in an instant, he was out.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 17

"I think you broke my jaw," Minato complained, rubbing it and pouting.

Naruto snorted. "Serves you right for spouting such nonsense."

"Hmm. I guess you're right. Still," the elder blonde sighed. "If the ANBU had seen you do that, they might've arrested you for assaulting me. It is a crime, you know."

"What? You'd let your own son get arrested for knocking some sense into you?" Naruto shook his head. "That's pathetic."

Minato scowled and shifted the weight of the packs on his back. "I am not pathetic. Damn, this is heavy."

Naruto smirked. "I told you Mom would kill you if she found out you were keeping things from her," he gloated.

"Aw, a broken jaw _and _I have to carry everyone's packs! I'll have a broken back, too." He pouted. "I'm not twenty anymore, you know."

"For someone who's over the hill, you sure are acting like a baby!" Tama called back from the front of the procession. The family was now flanked by ANBU. The masked soldiers had tried to remove the packs from the Hokage, but Meara had prevented them. Apparently, the only thing more intimidating than the Village's most powerful ninja was his wife.

"Oh, be quiet, you." Minato grumbled and tried to move the burden around so that it wasn't digging into his shoulder blade.

Naruto kicked at the dirt. "Yeah, for being in your forties, you sure fought like you were still in your twenties."

The Yellow Flash chuckled. "Naw. In my twenties, they wouldn't have gotten within ten feet of any of you kids, much less been able to kidnap Raidon."

Naruto's insecurity quadrupled. _If he was that strong in his twenties, how strong was he when he was my age? _

_DAMN! I am so weak! _

"Naruto?"

At his name, the Chuunin snapped his head up and gave a big, fake smile. "Yeah?"

Minato frowned at the number of teeth he was seeing. "Uh, is something wrong?"

"Whaaat? No! Of course not!" _Damn. I sound like I'm twelve again. __Too loud, much too loud._"I'm just fine!" _Okay, that's enough! _

"You expect me to believe that?" Minato snorted and shook his head. "I'm your father. You are loud and cheerful by nature, but when you're upset, you try too hard to be yourself, and that results in what you just gave me."

Naruto bit his lip. _Nobody ever figured that out before. They all just assumed I was loud and stupid. _

Minato sighed. "Fine, we won't talk about it now, but I will find out what's going on." He turned his attention back to the road.

Naruto lengthened his stride until he was no longer walking with his father, but with Kenji. The boy looked up at his older brother. "Something wrong?"

Naruto scowled and snarled, "No!" Again, Naruto quickened his pace until he was walking next to someone different.

Raidon pouted up at his brother. "Geez, 'Ruto. What crawled up your butt and died?"

"Will people quit asking me that?" he snapped. Raidon shrank back, looking hurt, then ran and grabbed Kenji's hand, not looking at Naruto.

_Damn. I hurt his feelings. I couldn't protect him, __then__ I hurt his feelings. I suck at being a big brother. _

Naruto ignored the evil looks he was getting from his sister and stomped on alone. After an hour of walking, the little parade decided to take a breather. Naruto threw himself down against a tree and buried his face in his knees, ignoring everyone else.

After about five minutes, Naruto felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up at his mother, who smiled at him. "What's wrong? My ball of sunshine suddenly turned into a big raincloud."

Naruto scowled at the ground. "Just another thing I'm failing at."

"What? What's that? What are you failing at?" Meara sat down and squeezed his shoulder, encouraging him to talk.

Naruto held out for about all of five seconds. "Last night. They dispersed my shadow clones and I didn't even notice, then I went after the one that took Raidon and fell right into their trap and Dad had to come save me, then I snap at Raidon today and hurt his feelings and now I'm not the happy person you want me to be, either. I can't do anything right."

Meara digested this for a couple minutes, then leaned forward and kissed the side of Naruto's head. "Of course you can. The clones' destruction was what woke you up, right? Well, if you hadn't woken up and alerted us, who knows how far they would have gotten with Raidon. As for the fight, well, I don't know much about being a ninja, but I do know you. If your father hadn't shown up, you would have found a way to fight them. That's who you are. And all you have to do is apologize to Raidon, everyone gets testy now and then." She smiled and ruffled his hair.

"But, Mom?" Naruto asked, grabbing her hand as she went to leave. "When will I get strong enough?"

Meara laughed. "There is no 'strong enough,' Naruto. There's always room for improvement, for getting stronger. That's the point of life, continually growing, finding out new things about yourself. Don't ever say that you are simply 'strong enough.' There is no thing." She walked back to Minato, who was rubbing his back and sulking over the weight on it.

Naruto stared after her. '_There is no strong enough.' I never thought of it that way. I thought I could just get strong enough to be Hokage, __then__ I'd be done. _

"Naruto!" Tama's voice snapped him back to the real world. He scrambled up and took his pack back; Meara had decided that Minato'd been punished enough for one day. Naruto slung his pack over his shoulder and walked on autopilot, mulling over what his mother had said.

After the lunch break, Naruto fell into step beside Raidon. The little boy looked up at Naruto with big green eyes. Naruto grinned at him. "Hey, I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier, I was just a little cranky."

Raidon brought his hand up and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I could forgive you if . . ."

Naruto frowned. "If what?"

"I get a piggyback ride?" Raidon looked up at Naruto hopefully.

"If your feet hurted, you could have just asked," Naruto responded. He crouched down and took his pack off his back. Raidon climbed on, wrapping his legs around Naruto's waist and arms around his neck. Naruto hooked his arms under the boy's legs and stood. Raidon wasn't all that heavy.

"Naruto?" he chirped.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still have my bag of rocks? I had some really good ones in there," he explained.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it's in my pack. You wanna see it next time we stop?"

Raidon nodded and began absently playing with Naruto's earlobe. Twenty minutes later, Naruto made a face and tried to shift the lump of dead weight formerly known as Raidon on his back. "Damn. Did he have to fall asleep?"

Minato chuckled, coming up beside him. "Need help?"

Naruto shook his head. "Naw, I'm fine."

"Yeah, he had an event-filled night, didn't he?"

"Didn't we all?"

Minato nodded. "Your mom told me what you said."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I remembered that we made a deal for me to train with you once a week."

That took Naruto by surprise. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten."

"Me, too. Sorry, but I'll make it up to you when we finish this endless trek, okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Okay. What are you planning on teaching me?"

Minato grinned. "How about Rasengan?"

"Uh . . ." _I already know it! And two variations on it! Shoot! What do I do now? _"I dunno. Uh, actually I think that I'd rather learn how you moved so fast in that battle last night." He gave a hopeful grin. _Will he buy that? _

Minato considered this. "Okay, that works. It'd probably take you a while to fully learn Rasengan, anyway."

Unable to stop himself, Naruto asked. "How long would you guess, if I worked on it full-time?"

"Full time?" The Rasengan Inventor considered this. "I would guess it would take you at least a good six months, probably closer to a year, though, taking into account your age and chakra control."

Naruto hid his smirk. _At least six months, huh?__Heh__heh__heh__ Try closer to one month, and that's when I was twelve! _

"But you want to learn the family speed, huh? Our bloodline limit." Minato gazed at Naruto thoughtfully. "I guess I could start teaching you that, you're certainly old enough. Alright, we'll start with that. We could actually start right now."

Naruto perked up at that. "Really?"

Minato nodded. "You still wearing those weights on your ankles?"

Wary now, Naruto nodded. Checking behind him first, Minato bent down and fussed with the weights so they were at their full dragging-down potential. "Gah!" Naruto grimaced as his legs protested the sudden increase in stuff they had to drag up.

Minato chuckled. "Well, you've got to build up the strength in your legs, first." He resumed the pace easily, as Naruto struggled to keep up. "Oh, and if your mom finds out you snuck ninja stuff in while on vacation, she'll kill you, so better not let her know that anything's wrong."

Naruto bared his teeth. "I hate you."

The chuckling erupted into full-blown laughter. "You know what's even better for your training?"

"I'm almost afraid to know," Naruto muttered, focusing on his walking.

"We'll reach the mountains in about an hour," he explained, pointing at the snow-covered peaks that were growing closer. "It'll be all uphill from there."

If legs could cry, Naruto's would have been bawling at the prospect of climbing the mountains with the weights _and _Raidon _and _both their packs.

_Right.__Left.__Right.__Left._Naruto trudged up the slope of the mountain to that beat. He had kept up the pace with the weights for four hours, three of which had been dragging himself up the blasted mountainside. Now, they were deep into the mountain range and had left behind the ANBU, Minato saying that now, the Churaeah would protect them. Naruto wasn't quite sure how, seeing that they had yet to see signs of life, but the ANBU had believed them and scampered—well, they didn't exactly _scamper—_leaped off back to Konoha.

Naruto tried to shift Raidon, who was still asleep on his back. _How long can the kid sleep? I thought he was a pit of endless energy. _Naruto was so lost in complaining that he didn't notice when the rest of the family had stopped and so bumped right into Tama.

"Watch where you're going, Naruto," she admonished. He stopped and made a face behind her back.

"Why did we stop?" he wondered. _If I lose momentum for too long, I won't get started again. _

Tama rolled her eyes. "Didn't you listen before? The Churaeah are a clan of mages. To find them, it's rather like a maze, or a scavenger hunt, you have to follow a specific path, even if you pass the same place several times. It's a coupling of confusion and barrier spells. Basically, they're very hard to find. Mom needs to do a small ritual, to point us in the right direction."

"Oh." Naruto peeked around her to see his mother. To him, she was just standing there. _But I know she's doing something more. _"What is involved in this ritual?" he asked Tama.

She sighed, then whispered over her shoulder. "First, Mom has to orient her spiritual energy. That's what she's doing now. Then she has to do a chant, it helps her connect to the energy in the air and in the mountains."

Naruto nodded. "Then, she can see like, spirit trails or something."

Tama glared at him. "If you weren't carrying Raidon, I'd hit you. No, actually seeing the trails would require someone of Great-Grandpa's strength and skill, Mom will throw some herbs into the air and whichever way they blow will lead us in that direction. Once they fall, she'll have to do it again."

Naruto's mind was whirling._ So, GG is Great-Grandpa. And he's really strong at this whatever it is Mom's doing. Hm. Seems complicated to me._ Tama elbowed him. "Now, she's doing the chant."

The Chuunin channeled some chakra to his ears so he could hear. _"__Choro__areah__mareahuh__Uytruo__wiaso__barabakuh__."_She repeated those words a couple of times.

Tama sighed. "The language is really beautiful, isn't it?"

"Mmm." Naruto wasn't really listening. _Why do I feel like I know that language? It's the same feeling as the plants from yesterday, like I've known it all along, __its__ just been locked away. _

Suddenly, Meara threw her hands out and a sprinkling of what looked like dust flew out of them. It swirled and hovered there for a minute, before getting caught by the wind and whipping off to the left. Meara began to follow it and the rest of the family followed her.

Naruto sighed and dragged himself forward again. _Damn, Dad. Did you have to make them this heavy? _They repeated the exercise several times in the next hour or so. By the fourth time, Naruto had seen it enough that he could do the ritual himself.

The herbs fell to the ground and Meara, sighing, stopped again. "I didn't think it would take this many times. They must be worried about something to make it this complex." _Yeah, we've been wandering around these mountains for hours. _

Forcing that thought out of his mind, Naruto closed his eyes and followed his mother's example, centering his spirit energy. _Sorta like when Neji tried to teach me meditation. I never really got it, but he said it would help with chakra and energy, which I could really use right about now. _Naruto oriented his chakra, feeling it flow out from his center and spread evenly to every part of his being, not an ounce being wasted. _That does feel good. _The throbbing in his legs even eased a bit.

When he heard Meara utter the chant, Naruto muttered it with her, trying again to place why it felt so familiar.

"Naruto? Were you saying the chant with Mom?"

Naruto nodded and opened his eyes. "I just—woah." Naruto blinked at the sudden vision before him. He could see little bits of green glowing dust in the air. They were coming from everything around him, the ground, the rocks, what little shrubbery there was, but most of all, from his family, especially his mom and dad. _What are they? _Naruto noticed that there was a close stream of them, almost close enough to be called solid, trailing in front of and behind their little group.

Meara threw the herbs in the air. Instantly, the stream of glowing dust swirled around the herbs, catching them and pulling them along. _Woah, hold it, __am__ I seeing what Tama was talking about? Spirit trails? But she said that only someone with great skill or strength could see them. What's going on? _

He didn't notice that the rest of the family had moved on until Kenji turned around. "Naruto, come . . . on . . . Mom!"

Meara spun around. "What?"

"What's wrong with Naruto's eyes?" Kenji was regarding his brother with a mixture of fear and awe.

Naruto frowned at Kenji. "My eyes? Whaddaya mean?"

Meara and Minato hurried back to where Naruto was. "Oh, my god."

"Okay, now you're freaking me out. What's going on?" Naruto demanded. On his back, Raidon finally showed signs of maybe waking up.

Tama whipped a mirror out from god knows where and shoved it into Naruto's face. "Look."

Naruto shifted Raidon, who murmured something and wiped his nose on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto ignored him and grabbed the mirror with a miraculously free hand. He held it up and looked at his reflection. What drew his attention this time was not the lack of whisker marks, but his eyes. Emanating from his pupil and going straight through his iris to the whites of his eyes, were tentacles of green, the same color as the spirit particles. Naruto stared at his own eyes for a good several seconds.

"Uh, what, ah, what's wrong with my eyes?" he forced out, his voice cracking.

Meara moved his hand so that she could see his eyes. "They're called _Areah __Wahre_Spirit eyes." She stared at him for a few moments. "Naruto, did you do that ritual with me?"

"Um, sorta?"

Minato blinked. "Sorta? How do you sorta do a ritual like that?"

Naruto shifted and grimaced, all this standing was making his legs go numb. "Well, Raidon and all the _stuff—" _he glared at his father, who had the grace to look slightly sheepish. "--was all pretty heavy, so when we stopped this time, I just did a little bit of meditation."

Meara nodded. "Yes, it's the same concept as what I was doing, but you needed to say the chant to activate _Areah __Wahre_"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, it sounded really familiar. So I said it to try and place where I'd heard it before. Then I opened my eyes and uh . . ."

"What do you see?" Meara questioned.

"Green stuff. Floating green stuff."

"So eloquent." Kenji muttered and buried his face in his hands.

Meara frowned. "Floating green stuff. You mean spirit particles."

"I guess."

"Can you see the trail?"

Naruto eyed the thick stream of green stuff—spirit particles. "I think so, its a really concentrated area of them, almost a tube of them, going in front of and behind us."

The two adults exchanged a look and Naruto could practically read their minds. He sighed and began to follow the trail. "Come on, its this way."

As Naruto dragged himself uphill yet again, Raidon suddenly decided to wake up. "Ug. Uhn." The little blonde head raised and blinked sleepily. It would've been cuter if the boy hadn't been drooling on Naruto for the past few hours. "Naruto?"

"Hey," Naruto smiled at him. "You think you can walk now?"

Raidon rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and looked around, yawning. "Yeah. Where are we?"

Meara stepped forward and lifted the kid off Naruto's back. "We're in the mountains now, honey." She kept talking to him as Minato stepped forward and surreptitiously lightened the weights around Naruto's ankles. He nearly cried in relief.

"You want me to take Raidon's pack?" he offered.

Naruto glared at him. "I thought you were worried about a broken back and jaw," he replied.

Minato scratched the back of his head. "You really didn't break my jaw, I was exaggerating in the hopes you'd take pity on me," he admitted.

Naruto threw the pack at him.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 18

"It ends here," Naruto announced, stopping. They had followed the trail, using Naruto's newly discovered _Areah __Wahre_for another half hour before the stream of concentrated spirit particles stopped. It didn't veer off into another direction, or go up or anything, it just ended.

Naruto was a bit nonplussed by this, but Meara smiled. "Finally. This is where we enter."

"How?" Naruto wondered.

"How else?" Meara asked. "Another ritual, but this time, its a blood ritual." Wincing slightly, she cut open her thumb with a kunai borrowed from Minato, who didn't look too pleased about the small wound, either. She squeezed the blood welling from her cut into a small bag, which Naruto guessed, was again filled with herbs.

Frowning, Naruto whispered to Tama, "Why's it a blood ritual?"

Tama sighed. "Because the clan is very secretive, they only allow certain people in. It's somewhat like a summoning contract, with a scroll and everything. Naturally, anyone born in the clan is added, but some people that the clan deems worthy can join it as well. Only the people whose blood is on the scroll can get into the clan's, well, home base, for lack of a better word."

Naruto nodded and stared at his mother, who was chanting again. At first, he tried to pay attention to the chant, but as it continued, Naruto could see the spirit particles in the air begin to move around. They began to form shapes and symbols on the face of a rock. On the last syllable of the chant, Meara threw out the bag of herbs and blood. The symbols glowed brilliant green, which then turned to white and the side of the mountain dissolved.

Meara turned around and smiled. "Come on."

Naruto gaped at the lack of mountainside until Kenji went back and dragged him forward. As Naruto passed through the gaping hole in the rock, it closed up behind him. Naruto stared at it, watching new symbols return and spin, re-forming the mountain until they were safe behind it. Snapping out of his daze, Naruto took notice of where they were now. The family was walking through a tunnel of sorts, with all sorts of things carved, written and drawn on the insides of the tunnel. The place was practically glowing with spirit particles.

After just a few minutes, they rounded a corner and stepped out into open air again. Naruto was the last one to exit. At the exit, he stopped and inspected the sides of the tunnel. Here also were symbols, Naruto was beginning to suspect it was the written form of the Churaeah language.

"Naruto, come on," Meara called.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he answered, walking backwards out of the tunnel. Naruto closed his eyes and rubbed them, trying to decipher that writing was starting to give him a headache. He opened them and was nearly blinded. "_Augh!"_Naruto immediately snapped his eyes shut and threw his hands over them, stumbling back.

Worried cries came from his family and he felt his father's hands steady him. "Naruto! What's wrong?" Naruto felt himself being gently lowered to the ground and his mother's hands were stroking his forehead.

Naruto tried opening his eyes again, but once more the bright green light pierced into them and he closed his eyes with a whimper. "It's too bright," he whispered, grimacing.

Suddenly a new voice reached Naruto's ears. "Meara? What's going on?"

His mother answered. "There's something wrong with Naruto, Grandpa. He won't open his eyes, says its too bright."

Rough, calloused hands brushed over Naruto's eyes and the throbbing went away. "That should be better. Try it now."

Naruto slowly cracked open one eye. When he saw blurred shaped instead of bright green light, he slowly raised the lid, then the other one. When no blinding pain came, he sighed in relief and scrubbed at his eyes with his knuckles. "Damn. What happened?"

"You had the _Areah __Wahre_ activated in here and couldn't temper what you saw," the gruff voice answered. "How long have you known about that gift?"

Naruto finished rubbing his eyes, but kept them closed for the time being. His eyelids didn't want to open. "Uh, like, an hour."

"An hour?" the voice questioned, sharp and probing.

Naruto nodded and yawned. "I'm tired."

"Open your eyes, Naruto," the voice commanded.

Naruto made a face, but complied. His vision was no longer blurred and he could see that his family was gathered around him, still slightly concerned. He grinned at them, indicating that he was okay now. "Look at me, boy." Naruto followed the voice to an incredibly wrinkled, tanned old man with piercing amber _eyes. Mom called him "Grandpa." This must be GG, huh? _He was leaning on a tall, gnarled staff and bending over Naruto, scowling. "How did you access the _Areah __Wahre_"

"Well," Naruto gulped. "Uh, Mom was doing the ritual with the herbs and the chant—"

"Which one?" GG snapped. "Virtually every ritual involves herbs and chants."

Naruto scowled back at him. "She centered her spiritual energy, said, '_Choro__areah__mareahuh__Uytruo__wiaso__barabakuh_and threw some herbs into the air."

The old man nodded. "I see. She was trying to find the way here. But your mother saying the chant wouldn't have activated your eyes."

"Well, I had been carrying Raidon, who'd fallen asleep and I was really tired, so the fourth time, I also centered my chakra, trying to get more energy to keep carrying him. By that time, I had memorized the chant, so I said it with her. When I opened my eyes, I could see the floaty, glowy gre—"

"Spirit particles," Kenji interrupted. "He could see spirit particles."

"I see." GG straightened and rubbed his chin. "Well, enough sitting on the ground. We'll sort this out later. Come on! Get up!"

Naruto pouted. "Naw, I'm too tired." He folded his arms and puffed out his cheeks.

"Naruto!" Meara scolded. "Get up."

Naruto shook his head. "No, can't I just sleep here or something?"

His great-grandpa shrugged. "Well, I guess you could, but then you'd miss the feast we—"

Naruto jumped up. "Never mind! I feel better!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As he ate, Naruto stared in wonder at where they were. The clan had situated themselves in a fairly large, somewhat oval valley that sloped down. On all sides, mountains rose up sharply, jutting into the sky. The tallest ones, Naruto could see, still had ice on their summits, despite it being mid-spring. In the western end of the valley, the high peaks were silhouetted by the setting sun. From somewhere in the high mountains, a river gushed, running straight through the little community inhabiting the mountains. Several bridges had spanned the river, which was fairly large, but certainly nothing to shout about. The valley they were in was below the tree line and off to one side, in a deeper part of the valley, Naruto could see fields of green.

Where they were currently, however, was all rock. There was a giant open space in the valley, which the river bisected. Naruto wondered vaguely what it was used for. Few buildings were actually built and those that were had been made out of stone, not wood or bamboo. The rest of the accommodations had been carved out from the mountains themselves. Naruto could see multiple walkways and terraces on every side of the mountain, except one.

It was the very, highest end of the valley and while there was a building in that part, because of windows, it was only one building, and certainly separate from the rest of the cliff dwellings. One on side of the solitary building, there was an amphitheater-like setup, with levels of mini-cliffs, clearly meant to be benches by their size and a raised dais about ten feet from the lowest bench. The other side was a complete mystery to Naruto. It vaguely reminded him of something he'd seen at a pet store: some tall, carpeted thing that had multiple levels and all kinds of cubby holes in it. The sales lady had mentioned it was for cats, although what cats would do with the darned thing was beyond Naruto. Finally, on top of the important building, Naruto assumed it was important because it was all by itself, unless the building was emo like Sasuke or Neji, but Naruto figured that wasn't likely, Naruto could vaguely make out glass, and wondered what a glass house was doing. _It certainly wouldn't be hard to throw stones at that glass house._

With a small snicker, Naruto turned his head back to where he was enjoying the feast. Three long, wooden tables had been set up on one side of the river, in a U shape. Naruto and his family were at the center table, looking into the middle of the U, where a bonfire the size of an elephant was roaring. Each table was absolutely huge, holding at least one-hundred and fifty people, and there were more that came and went, or sat up in the cliff side houses and watched. There were multiple banners and flags set up around the tables, and there was always music playing; certainly no formal musicians, but random members of the clan would pick up instruments and simply begin playing or join those already playing. Sometimes, another person would just sing along with some songs, occasionally in Japanese, although the flowing language of the tribe was more commonly heard.

_Can't complain.__ Everything here is absolutely great. __Including the food._He grinned and shoveled food into his mouth. Naruto wasn't quite sure what it was, but it tasted great and as long as it wasn't poisonous, he didn't care. By his count so far, Naruto had had three platefuls, each time with a new assortment of delicious dishes.

"You know, you're going to make yourself sick," Kenji murmured from Naruto's right.

Naruto was unable to reply without spraying food all over his brother, so he settled for making a face, which Kenji rolled his eyes at and then promptly ignored. Naruto went back to stuffing his face. Finally, after too many new dishes to count, Naruto leaned back in his chair, waaay too full, belly bloated.

He groaned. "I ate too much."

A resounding chorus of "Uh-huhs" and "I thought so" came from his family. Naruto stretched his arms above his head. "Ah, now it's time to train, to get rid of all of this."

At this, Meara stood up as well. "Oh, no you don't! No ninja anything while we're here!"

Naruto stared at her, bug eyed. "Whaaaaat? But how—what am I supposed to do?"

Meara laughed. "There are other ways to work the weight off, silly." She grabbed his hand and dragged him up. She called out to the random musicians in the crowd, speaking the tribe's language. A cheer rose up at her words and as she dragged Naruto to the open space between the tables, at least two dozen others jumped up and joined her. The people in the crowd with instruments whipped them out and, depending on their choice of music-maker, either sat down to steady themselves or stood to play. Naruto noticed several flutes, a couple of fiddle-looking things, drums of all sizes and a few other instruments he didn't recognize. There were shouts among them, apparently deciding what to play. Finally, they all agreed on something. The dancers who had come hurried into a large circle around the bonfire and then one person with a large, round drum pounded out a quick four-count.

_Bum-bum-bum-bum._

The other instruments picked up a lively, quick tune. Naruto nearly tripped over his own feet as the circle began to move, everyone holding hands up, spinning with a complicated footstep. He yelled over his shoulder. "I don't know this."

"No one does," Meara laughed. "Just dance and enjoy yourself!"

All of a sudden, the spinning switched directions and Naruto tried to keep up, again almost face-planting. _What kind of dance is this? Aw, oh well! _With a grin, Naruto decided to throw himself into the festivities. By now, about twenty more people had joined the circle and those that weren't dancing or playing instruments were clapping their hands and singing. Although it wasn't really singing, it was more of a "Lai-dai-de-dai-dai-dai!" thing that went with the music.

Several of the musicians, with fiddles or flutes, mostly, ducked under the arms of the circle and began to play and dance lightly in the middle of the ring. A couple of others grabbed small banners or just long pieces of cloth and spun with them, making them float, twirl and dance in the air.

Naruto wasn't paying any attention to what was going on outside the circle, but suddenly, somebody came up to his mother with a funny-looking instrument. The spinning stopped and all the clan began to cheer and encourage her to take the weird thing. Naruto peered at it; it looked like the top of a drum without the big, open part for resonation, just the ring with the fabric stretched over it, but there were little bell-like things set in the wood all around the ring.

"What is it?" he wondered out loud.

The man who was trying to persuade Meara to play it grinned at him. "It's called a tambourine! And your mother is very skilled at playing it while dancing!"

Meara blushed. "No, I'm not! Stop it, Treahno!"

Naruto grinned at her. "I'm sure you are, Mom. Come on! Play it!"

"Oh, but I haven't done it in so long," she hedged, while those around her tried to convince her.

Naruto teased her. "Whatsa matter? Embarrassed? Don't be! Here!" He stepped into the inside of the circle. "I'll dance with you if it'll make you feel better!" He held out his hands and the cheers from the audience increased.

He could see she was weakening. "Fine!" he snapped. "I'll dance with someone_ else_! You probably couldn't keep up with me, _Mom." _Naruto purposely gestured to a young musician with a funny fiddle impostor to start playing, who made a long show of raising his bow, but before he could drag it across the strings, bells tinkled.

Naruto snapped his head back to Meara, who was now holding the tambourine, one hand on her hip and a challenge plastered in her eyes. "Let's just see about that." She flicked her wrist and the bells tinkled again. A cheer rose up from the crowd.

The blonde teen grinned and, not knowing really what to do, began to spin and occasionally stomp his foot on the ground. The player and the dancer began to circle each other, and Naruto noticed the gleam of confidence in his mother's eyes. She raised the instrument above her head and began to tap it with her hand, each time producing a chime of a different kind. Naruto just tried to dance, to keep up with his mother, who was beginning to play the tambourine with ever-increasing skill and dexterity.

_Damn. What have I gotten myself into? _He wondered as he continued to spin, snap, stomp and just make any move he felt fit what she was playing. Slowly, the tempo increased, Naruto's speed increasing with it. He stripped off his green sweat-shirt to give him more flexibility and danced only in his gray pants and red t-shirt. By this point, other musicians had for the most part stopped, watching the contest between mother and son. Naruto, for a lack of anything else to do, began throwing in ninja moves: a roundhouse kick there, a series of flying punches here, even a couple of basic flips and air somersaults. Each time, the crowd cheered.

Meara kept speeding it up, and Naruto kept up with her, until it sounded like multiple tambourines playing and he was just a blur of gray and red. Faster and faster, Naruto began to sweat, but it was a good sweat, that comes from a hard workout or a long game. He closed his eyes and tuned out everything except those bells, how they moved him, like the puppeteer of a marionette. Finally, the bells climaxed in a symphony of chimes and music. Naruto moved instinctively, somehow knowing when they would stop and planning for it.

As soon as the tambourine stopped, Naruto ended in a ninja position. He was in a semi-crouch, his left leg bent up, his right leg out straight, left hand flat on the ground between his legs and his right, extended straight up, palm facing the heavens. His eyes were locked on his mother's.

Several seconds of silence followed and then cheers erupted from the audience. Naruto grinned at Meara, who smiled back, rubbing her wrists, and then he collapsed, spread eagled on the ground, panting heavily but still grinning. The crowd laughed and a few came forward to help pull him up. Naruto smiled at them as they clapped him on the back. Painstakingly, and with many compliments (Naruto assumed, most of them spoke in Churaeah), the teen stumbled back to his seat, throwing himself in it and screaming for water.

Tama chuckled as she watched him. "I didn't know you could dance like that, Naruto."

Naruto grinned at her, then drained the entire glass of water in one gulp. "Neither did I."

Minato grinned and joined the conversation. "I'm not sure I would call that dancing, though. More like controlled convulsions."

"Whaat!" Naruto scowled and threw a squishy fruit at his father, who dodged it, laughing.

"Don't mind him, Naruto," Tama advised. "Don't you remember last time we came? Dad tried dancing and broke Mom's toe."

The Hokage blushed and sank down in his chair, muttering about traitorous children. Naruto grinned and turned his head back to the festivities in front of him. Several small children had joined in and were jumping and spinning around clumsily, but very cutely. Raidon was among them.

"Aren't they cute?" Tama asked, obviously enthralled by the little kids' attempts at dancing.

Naruto snorted. "They need to work on balance and stuff, most of them are clumsy. I'm surprised that one of them hasn't been kicked in the head or twisted an ankle."

"Careful." Tama chastised. "You'll jinx it."

"Huh?"

"You'll jinx it, silly." She smacked his head.

"You be careful, you'll knock my brains loose or something." Naruto rubbed his head and pouted.

Tama snorted. "No chance of that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," she sighed. "Let's just say that if you had a brain-eating slug, it would die of starvation."

Naruto stared at her. "Whaaaaaat! That is so not true! I'm really smart! My slug would be very, very _fat!_" He folded his arms and turned sharply away from her, to see his mother staring at him in confusion. Behind him, Tama and Kenji began snorting in amusement. Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Uh . . ."

Meara just walked past him and sat down next to Minato. Naruto turned back to Tama. "Anyway, what did you mean, I'd jinx it?"

"When something is going really well, if you say it's going well, then it's like you've alerted the Powers That Be and they have to stop it or something." She smiled at him after her explanation. "Get it?"

"Uh, no?"

She chuckled. "Never mind." They went back to watch the dancing. The night wore on until there was no longer a fading sunset in the west and the stars shone above them. Naruto leaned back and looked up. "Wow. I've never seen the stars so bright," he marveled.

Meara explained, "Yes, even out in the countryside, unless you are literally in the middle of nowhere, there's always some sort of pollution, whether its environmental or light. Here, the air is specifically purified and protected by the mages, the same way the valley is. This valley is the most beautiful and protected in all the world."

Naruto glanced over to her. She was sitting on the ground with Minato, leaning comfortably on his chest. He lowered his head and whispered something in her ear, to which she laughed and kissed him. Naruto smiled at the sight, as they kept talking in low voices. In the past few weeks, he hadn't seen them really as married people, probably because he'd been worrying about himself lately, but now, he saw the same people he'd seen smiling in the picture in his room.

"Hey, Naruto," Kenji murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Is it true that you can tell where you are just by looking at the stars?" he asked, staring up at the glowing dots.

"Yup. My sensei taught me a little bit." He shifted and inspected the stars. "There are constellations, you see, groups of stars that can be made into pictures, if you have imagination. Depending on what constellations you see, and what position they're in, you can tell what time of night it is, what season it is, and where you are."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Could you teach me a little bit?" Kenji asked after a brief silence.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Sure. Lie down here. It's easier to see them instead of craning your neck back."

The two boys stretched out on the ground, gazing at the stars. "Okay, I don't know much, but . . ." Naruto began to point the constellations that he knew. "That one is the great warrior and his dog, kinda like Kiba and Akamaru. See?"

Kenji squinted. "Uh, sorta."

Naruto continued to point out random constellations and things until he'd run out of them. After that, he and Kenji took turns making up their own constellations.

"I think that one looks like a cup of milk," Kenji said, drawing at a random group of stars.

"A cup of milk, huh? Well, I guess we need to find a plate of cookies to go with it," Naruto quipped.

Kenji peered at the brilliant stars for a moment. "Well, I don't see cookies, but I do see an octopus."

"What? An octopus? Show me!" Kenji shifted closer and drew a picture in the stars with his index finger. Indeed, it was an octopus.

"Wow." Naruto grinned. "That's really cool. What else do you see?"

Kenji stared up at the sky. "I can see anything I want to see," he said. "Tell me something, and I'll see it."

"Uh, an umbrella," Naruto requested.

The other boy was silent for a moment, then he began to point to stars. Naruto tilted his head and squinted, but finally saw the umbrella Kenji was pointing at. Naruto continued to demand random and increasingly odd objects in the sky and Kenji continued to produce them.

"That's really cool, Kenji," Naruto said again. "How do you see them?"

"Well, they're just a bunch of stars, all it takes is imagination and creativity in connecting the dots," he answered. "I've always been able to see pictures in everything, rearranging stuff and making into something else."

Naruto grinned down at him. "That's one heck of a gift, you know. I've got nothing near that kind of mind."

Kenji gave him a small smile and a sigh. "Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"It's just my 'gift' as you call it, doesn't translate well for a ninja," he explained, his voice full of disappointment.

Naruto frowned at him. "What are you talking about? You just gotta think of it differently. Like, when you're in a battle situation, think of all the people and the objects around you like the stars and look for a specific image, or outcome," Naruto said excitedly. "Then you form a plan. See?"

Kenji frowned at him, considering that thought. "I . . . guess. I never really thought of it that way." They were silent for a while, just sitting there.

Eventually, when Naruto was getting sleepy anyway, Minato and Meara stood up. "Alright, guys, I think it's time for bed." Minato bent down and lifted Raidon, who'd fallen asleep curled up on the ground. Naruto and Kenji stood slowly, stretching out their backs.

Naruto followed his father to the place that they'd be staying. It was a large house on a high level of the mountain, with an excellent view down the valley. Naruto went to his room, where somebody had delivered all of his stuff.

"Naruto!" Meara called.

"Yeah?" He stuck his head out the door.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"Mom!"

She chuckled. "Seriously, though. Dental health is very important and you always slacked off when you were a kid."

"But I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Yes and now the responsibility lies on you to brush your teeth."

"So why are you reminding me!"

"Because you're not fully an adult yet. You're between an adult and a kid, so I still have to take care of you. Somewhat."

"You're not making any sense!"

"You just can't understand me because it's late! You should go to bed now!"

"But I haven't brushed my teeth!"

"Well, go do it! What are you waiting for?"

Naruto pounded his head on the door frame, but grabbed his toothbrush and stalked to the bathroom. As he brushed his teeth, he complained. In his head, naturally. _Yelling at me about brushing my teeth.__ How old does she think I am, five? I'm not, I'm sixteen! _He spit out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth out. Naruto headed back to his room.

"Did you remember to use mouthwash?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yes."

She was silent for a minute. "Go use it."

Grumbling, he rinsed with refreshing minty mouthwash and even flossed. He snuck back to his room.

"Naruto, did you floss, too?"

Feeling very cranky, he snapped back, "My teeth or my—"

Minato's hand was clamped over Naruto's mouth. "Do _not_ be an idiot to your mother." He shoved Naruto into his bedroom. "Goodnight."

"Yeah, 'night." He muttered. Naruto changed into pajamas and flopped into bed. "Well, let's hope this night won't be as eventful as last night." He rolled over and fell asleep, staring at the stars through his window.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Naruto yawned and sat up, stretching happily. "That was a good sleep." He jumped up and felt every muscle in his both of his legs sieze up. "Ah!" Naruto fell to the ground. "Dad!"

There was no response. He tried again. "_Dad!" _

His only reply was a thump from his parents' bedroom.

"Okay," Naruto muttered. "You guys asked for it!"

He took a deep breath.

"_Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—" _

Finally, his father's groggy voice interrupted him. "Naruto! What the hell are you yelling about this early in the morning?! Go back to bed!"

"I can't! Get in here, cause it's your fault!" Naruto bellowed and folded his arms, waiting.

About a minute later, Minato stumbled into the room in only sweatpants. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"My _legs!" _Naruto hissed. "Because of that _stupid _training, my legs are cramping so bad I can't move 'em!"

His father rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and knelt down to inspect Naruto's legs. "Damn. Didn't you stretch before going to bed.

_Crap. I totally forgot. _"No." He muttered.

"Don't blame it all on me, then. I'll see what I can do, hang on." He turned around and went to the door.

"Yeah, why are you half-naked? Did you wear a shirt to bed?" Naruto wondered.

Minato's cheeks turned slightly pink and he stammered. "I-I uh, um, ah—"

Naruto smirked. "Did you wear _anything _to bed?"

Minato stopped his spluttering and looked Naruto in the eye. There was a second of silence. "Do you _really _want to know?"

Naruto considered this. "Ah, no."

"I thought not." Minato exited, shutting the door firmly behind him.

A few minutes later, during which Naruto tried massaging his pained calfs and thighs, his father returned, fully clothed this time, with a small tube of muscle rub. He shook his head as he sat down. _"Why_ didn't you stretch _at all?_"

Naruto folded his arms. "I forgot," he mumbled.

"_You forgot?_" Minato grabbed Naruto's left leg and began massaging his calf with the muscle rub, carefully hitting pressure points to get the tight muscles to loosen. "That was incredibly irresponsible, Naruto! You _must _take better care of yourself! What if you'd had a mission today? Or if we were still on the road and someone attacked? Well? What would you do? Would you ask for mercy because your legs can't work? Would you just lie there while your fam—"

"Don't!" Naruto snarled. "Don't say that I wouldn't protect them! If I had to fight with my legs like this, I would! If I had to fight with my legs cut off, I would! If I had to come back from the _dead_ to protect the people I love, I would!"

Minato continued massaging Naruto's legs in silence until, "That is what makes you strong, Naruto. Not the number of jutsu, not your chakra levels. A ninja's true strength is revealed and measured when he protects the people that are most precious to him." He stopped the rubbing to look Naruto in the eye. "If I hadn't come along the other night, you would have found a way to defeat those bastards and save your brother. I know it."

Naruto humphed. "Why didn't you say that yesterday?"

Minato just laughed and went back to the muscle therapy.

About an hour later, Minato stood up. "Well, that's the best I can do and your mom refuses to help because we were doing ninja stuff on vacation." He held out his hand. "Come on. You need to walk it off now, just lying there will make it worse."

With a sigh, Naruto grabbed his father's hand and let himself be hauled up. His legs screamed in protest threatened to give out again as he put pressure on them and, but Minato hooked his arms under the boy and waited until Naruto regained his balance. Once Naruto did, he began limping around the room, wincing with every step. _Aw, damn! My legs are killing me! _

"Why don't you go take a shower?" Minato suggested. "The warm water might help."

"Yeah," Naruto gasped. "Okay." He limped to the bathroom. _Oh, this is going to be a long day._

Naruto's legs were still in pain by lunchtime, though not the mind-numbing agony from the morning. His limp wasn't as noticeable, either, for which he was glad. People had been giving him funny looks as they walked around the valley. Meara had dragged them all on a tour of the valley, excluding the farmland to the west. The giant open space that had not been used the night before, on the other side of the river from the celebration site, was now filled with shops and tents, like a giant bizarre. Meara said that the merchants did this every morning and took it all down before suppertime every evening. It was tradition, how it had always been for the Churaeah.

Naruto also found out what that special building at the eastern end of the valley was for, the one separated by from all the rest of the buildings. For the clan, it was the same as a combination of the Hokage tower and the Academy. The tribe's affairs were run from there, and it served as both a regular school and a school for mages. Meara had said that GG was still the Clan Head, which was equal to the Hokage. She looked about to go on some long explanation of the government, but was interrupted by a young man.

"Uh, excuse me?" he asked.

Minato perked up. "Yes?"

"Head Herashe would like to see you now. He says he's done with the morning's work," the young man said with a strange accent.

_So, GG's name is Herashe. _Naruto and the rest of the family followed the man, an intern or something, into the building and up a winding staircase for three levels. Naruto had to drag himself up using the railing for the last flight; his legs were about to seize up again like they had this morning.

"Mom," he whined.

She pursed her lips. "Unless it's life-threatening, don't bother me about your legs. It's your fault."

He made a face and kept up with the intern with some difficulty. Finally, they arrived at what must have been the Head's office. The door opened. At first, Naruto thought it moved of its own accord, but he peeked around and saw a very short person gripping the doorknob on the other side. The almost-midget raised an eyebrow and said in a voice that sounded like sandpaper over gravel, "What are you looking at, lunchbox?"

"Lunchbox?" Naruto repeated. _Lunchbox?_

"Yeah." He growled. "You got a problem with it, Snack Shack?"

Naruto stared at the strange little man and shook his head. "Nope."

"Then get movin'." Naruto did, but glanced over his shoulder to see the little man sneer at him. The teen shook his head and put the incident out of his mind.

GG was in the next room, sitting in an old wooden armchair, smoking a pipe. Meara hugged him and scolded. "You shouldn't be smoking that, Grandpa! Those things'll kill you."

"We all die someday," he replied, pinching her cheek. "I'd rather die _with _my pipe than _without _it. Anyway, all of you, sit down."

Naruto found a seat and began to subtly stretch out his legs, praying to whatever god would listen that they wouldn't start cramping while he wasn't moving. The three adults talked for a couple minutes, then GG sent Kenji and Raidon out of the room because he wanted to talk about Naruto's brain problem. Kenji already knew about it, but Raidon couldn't be in the room and he didn't want to be alone in a strange place.

When they were gone, Minato and Meara told GG everything that the doctors in Konoha had told them. GG listened carefully, simply nodding. Meara produced the test results that had come. GG looked them over, and frowned, deeply.

"Hmmm." He shot a calculating look to Naruto and activated his own _Areah Wahre. _Naruto's eyes widened. These eyes were far more powerful than his own. Whereas the green had only covered part of Naruto's eyeball, the old man's eyes, pupil, iris, everything, were completely green. Naruto could only stare as those eyes pierced him. Slowly, he deactivated the eyes and they returned to warm amber.

"I wonder," he murmured. Meara and Minato were both quite anxious, these were the first words he'd spoken since they had told him about Naruto's head.

"Grandpa?" Meara asked. "What is it?"

GG steepled his finger and considered his great-grandson over the tips of them. "I wonder," he said again. "If I could speak to Naruto alone. There are some things I need to ask him. In private."

Naruto heart was pounding. _Is there something really wrong with me? What did he see? _

"Come." GG stood up. Naruto followed his example, too distracted to notice his legs. "We'll take a walk so your legs don't forget how to work."

Naruto trailed GG out of the office, shooting a look to his parents and Tama, who smiled reassuringly. As he left, someone else entered, bearing a tray of cakes and tea. GG led Naruto up a few more flights of stairs, the boy whimpering for the last set and then out a door into sunshine.

The teen blinked and shielded his eyes against the sudden onslaught of midday sun. Once he could see clearly, he saw that they were on top of the building, surrounded by gardens and the greenhouses he'd seen earlier. But beyond the edge of the building, Naruto gasped. The whole valley stretched out before him. He could see the people bustling in the temporary marketplace, and the workers taking down the tables and banners from last night, all the way down to the green fields, where the different colored fields made a patchwork quilt, in some of them cows or sheep grazing happily.

"Wow." He whispered.

GG chuckled. "I'm glad you like the view. Now, come here. We'll weed while we talk."

Naruto wandered behind GG to a patch of barely-grown lettuce. "We always start the planting late here because of the spring frosts," GG explained. "But damned weeds are as much a danger as the mountain cold, so help me get rid of them and we'll talk." The old man slowly knelt down, going step-by-step, as the elderly are prone to do.

"I thought we were going to walk," Naruto said, as he too carefully put himself on the ground.

GG snorted. "Resting your legs is as important for healing them as working your legs." Gnarled hands ripped a leafy green plant out of the ground and displayed it to Naruto. "This is what you're looking for. 'Weed' any of the lettuce and I'll skin you."

"Yes, sir." Naruto searched for the vile weed and began ripping it up. "What do you want to talk to me about? Is something seriously wrong with me?"

GG sighed. "You could put it that way. Or you could say that everything else is wrong."

"Huh?"

"You don't belong here, boy."

Naruto stopped weeding and looked at GG. He said nothing.

"Yes, I noticed. That test result, the odd energy in your brain. The reason it registered as odd is that it doesn't fit with the energy of this world."

Naruto gulped as he listened. _The box. Everything is wrong. God, I've completely forgotten these past few days! How could I forget! Damn! _

"Tell me everything that has happened, Naruto."

Naruto sighed and told him, about the box, about how the chakra fought back, about how everything was different from his world. It didn't take long, he didn't have much to tell. When he was done, he stared down at the ground, then ripped up a weed.

GG was silent for several moments. "You are leaving something out, Naruto." Naruto racked his brains, no he'd told him everything. "Not about the incident, about yourself. Is there any reason that you would have unreasonable power, unlimited chakra?"

_Kyuubi._

Naruto swallowed. "Yes," he answered. "I have a demon sealed inside me. Well, I did in my world. I don't here."

"Is there anything special about this demon? Is it especially powerful?" GG asked.

Naruto laughed hollowly. "You could say that. The demon is Kyuubi no Kitsune."

GG inhaled sharply. "Of course."

Again, for several minutes, the only sound was Naruto tearing weeds out of the ground. "Naruto. Look at me."

Naruto stopped and swiveled to face GG. The old man had a very somber look on his face. "I have to go home, don't I?"

"It's not that simple." GG sighed. "You believe that you have been transported to some other world, where things are changed and you live differently, but that is not true, not if I deduce correctly."

Naruto frowned. "But that's the only explanation. It's not a genjutsu—"

"Oh, no," GG interrupted. "It is certainly not one of your silly ninja tricks." He continued as Naruto bristled. "And I mean no offense, but that is what genjutsu and all related things are: illusions. Correct?"

Grudgingly, Naruto nodded.

"No. What you have described is something that I—that no one has thought possible. Something I heard about as children hear fairy tales of fantastic beasts and impossible deeds. That is what I always dismissed it as, a legend." He fell silent, eyes staring into the middle distance.

"GG?" Naruto asked tenatively.

"It is a story told, all in theory, or in legend, of a power to re-write the world."

Naruto frowned. "What's that mean?"

"I shall tell you the story." GG stated. "Many millenia ago, there lived an ancient and powerful mage. He was the first to tap into his true spirit power and was the pioneer of our ways. He often experimented with his power, and loved to tinker with machines and devices of the sorcerous sort. Nearing the end of his life, his dear wife and his three children, their spouses and his many grandchildren died of a fire in his home while he was away. The mage was mad with grief and sought a way to turn back time, to save his beloved family. He discovered that it was not possible to change time, but it was possible to change the world."

By now, Naruto was leaning forward, completely entranced by the tale.

"He found a way to take the world as it was, and more or less, blur it, as if one were to take a painting, and make the paint liquid once again. Once the world was blurred, or liquid, it could be formed, re-painted into a new painting as the user saw fit. The mage was exultant. He could bring his family back. He worked to make this discovery usable to him and eventually it took the form of the 'box' you stumbled across in the woods. But by the time he did form this box, he realized something. Tampering with the substance of the world would take incredible power, more power than any one human had ever or would ever have. The mage was frustrated, furious. After all of his work, he was thwarted at the last step."

Naruto felt sorry for the poor guy, all he wanted was to see his family again.

"The mage searched for this great power, but could not find nor tame it. Eventually, the mage came to his senses. He understood that if this device required such power, such impossible power, it was not for him to mess with the world. Some things should not be altered. He saw the device for what it truly was, a danger, not only to him but to the very stability of the world, for what human knows the workings of the gods? What human can upset the delicate balance they have set in place? The mage became very afraid of the device, despite the fact that it required such power and thus could never be used. He tried to destroy the device, but it resisted his attempts, so he took it to the ends of the earth and hid it, beneath a myriad of spells and barricades that no human could hope to penetrate. He burned all record of it, and never mentioned it's name again."

"The story went down from generation to generation, and eventually it became a moral to little children. Do not interfere with the plans of the gods, or some such nonsense. It was dismissed as a fairy tale, a legend."

"But it's real," Naruto whispered.

GG nodded. "From what you have told me, it is real indeed."

"And it needed the fox's chakra to activate it," Naruto gulped.

Again, GG nodded. "Indeed. That is why I asked you about your power, because powerful you may be, but no human is that powerful."

"But who could have done it?" Naruto wondered. "And how did it get under my foot at precisely the right time?"

GG mused for a minute. "It was probably the reverse of a summoning spell. Once whoever did this got his hands on the device, he cast a spell to send it directly to the being who could provide the power."

Naruto leaned back and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds go by. _Shika's right. This is relaxing. _"So, this world is . . . real?"

"Not yet."

Naruto's head snapped back to the old man so fast he nearly got whiplash. "What do you mean?"

"Because you remember your old world, that means that this world is not yet set in place. To use the earlier analogy, the paint isn't dry yet. It is drying though, setting as it is. I believe you are also settling in here, forgetting about your earlier life."

Naruto brought his knees up and hid, ashamed that he could forget his friends so easily.

"It is not your fault, you could not hope to resist it. Right now, the power is being stored in the device, slowly siphoned out as the world remakes itself."

Naruto nodded, not understanding why he was being told this.

"Right now, the device is vulnerable. It can be destroyed by human means, but if the world is allowed to set like this, it will go back to its previous invincibility."

Naruto frowned. "I don't understand."

"You have a choice, Naruto. A choice between this world and the old world. If you find and destroy that device, all will be restored. However, if you do nothing, this world will remain as it is, possibly forever. You are the only one who remembers, Naruto. You are the only one with the power to set the world back."

Naruto stared at his great-grandfather.

"But . . . only if you so choose."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Naruto stared out the window of his room. He was confused, his heart was hurting and he didn't like this feeling, not at all.

"_But . . . only if you so choose."_

After that, GG had led the boy back downstairs and announced that he had discovered what was wrong. _"It is the awakening of his powers. Because he is not pure Churaeah, when his powers activated, they did not fully mesh with his non-mage blood. But don't worry. It is a simple ritual that will ease the passing. And then, I will train him in our ways so that he can control his powers."_

GG had done some ritual that Naruto didn't pay any attention to and then slapped Naruto's head. _"He should rest now, for a while. The ritual is draining."_

So, Naruto had gone to his temporary home and laid down, though he certainly couldn't rest.

Someone knocked on the door. Naruto closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He felt a small hand smooth back his hair. Kenji whispered in his ear. "I know your not asleep, Naruto. But I have to tell you, I feel like the rest of us are missing something."

_Damn. He's as smart as Shikamaru. _Kenji walked out and shut the door firmly behind him.

His mind went back to his problem. He was supposed to choose? Choose between his old life and his new life? How was he supposed to do that?

Naruto punched his pillow and rolled over. So it wasn't as cut and dried as he'd thought. He could go back, set everything as it was, but if he didn't . . .

It wasn't like he was usurping the place of some other Naruto. This could be his home. This could be his real family, he wouldn't be stealing it or anything. It would be his, could be his, legitimately.

But, GG had said that humans shouldn't meddle in the affairs of the gods. Shouldn't he try to put things back to the way they were? Shouldn't he try to fix the gods' plan?

But how did he know the gods' plans? What if this was the original plan?

Naruto rolled over again, and continued the internal and circular debate until his mind gave him relief and shut down.

--------------------------

Sleep didn't help.

All night, Naruto's dreams were plagued with exploding boxes and twisted tunnels. Even he, nowhere near a psychologist, could figure this one out.

Of course it also didn't help when GG came barging into his room before dawn. "Come on, boy! You're going to waste half the day!"

Naruto moaned. "Leave me alone!"

"Do you have any idea how much daylight people waste? Get up already!" GG tugged at the blankets.

"The sun's not up yet!" Naruto snarled, pulling back on the covers. "Go away!"

GG, stronger than he looked, managed to yank the sheets off of Naruto's body. "Not gonna happen! I need you to learn how to control the power inside you. If you don't, it could very well be dangerous!"

"But why now?" Naruto complained. "Wouldn't it be better if I was well rested?"

GG snorted. "Oh, really and just how restful was your sleep last night?"

Naruto made a face. "So what? I'm comfy here!"

"Ha! Get up, I'll teach you how to rest without sleeping," GG invited, stumping out and dragging Naruto's bedding with him. "Oh, and dress warm. It's cold out in the morning."

Grumbling, Naruto got up and did some minor stretches, then threw on thick denim jeans, two pairs of socks and, to annoy GG, a bright orange turtleneck sweater. Then he stomped out and followed his great-grandfather back up to the gardens, but this time, they didn't stop there.

"Come on, boy," GG said. "There's a place up there that's good for meditation, which you could probably use about now." He began to wind his way up an old goat trail that was barely accessible from the rooftop gardens. "Oh, and don't use your chakra to climb this, use your muscles."

Naruto blinked at him. It had been ages since he'd climbed anything without using chakra. Ever since Kakashi had taught them on their first "C"-ranked mission, he hadn't bothered with it. Just channel your chakra into whatever it was and bam! You were set.

"What's wrong?" GG cackled. "You don't remember how?"

"Hey! I remember plenty! Just lead the way and don't slow me down!" Naruto folded his arms and followed GG. He had to make a conscious effort not to use his chakra.

By the time GG stopped and said, "This is it," Naruto was out of breath. Not that he would ever show it. GG of course just stood there and inhaled deeply. "Alright, has anyone ever taught you how to meditate?"

"Uh, Neji tried once," Naruto answered.

"Who's Neji?"

"Hyuuga Neji," Naruto answered. "A friend."

GG snorted. "I've heard of he Hyuugas. Had a chance to meet them once, as well. Bunch of white-eyed, overbearing snobs, if you ask me. Especially the 'main branch.' But anyway, they don't know much about true meditation, the Hyuugas, few ninjas do. You will, soon," he finished. "Have a seat."

Naruto knelt down, like Neji had taught him. "I said sit, not kneel. That's one of the misconceptions about meditating. It must be done on the knees. Pssh."

So GG taught Naruto how to properly meditate.

----------------------------

"_Kyuubi?"_

"_Hey! __Furball__! Get over here!"_

_Naruto folded his arms. "Damn __furball__. Where is he?" _

_The teen began to pace back and forth, waiting for the great nine-tailed fox to show up. _

_Something rumbled in Naruto's mind. "What? What is that?" _

"_Kit!" _

_Naruto spun around. __"Kyuubi!__ Where are you? Come here!"_

_A low growl reverberated off the stone walls and passages. "I'm trying. It's harder than the last time we spoke."_

_Finally, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness, followed slowly by the rest of the fox's head. "Have you figured out what is going on?"_

_Naruto nodded. "Yes, well, sorta. My great-grandfather told me." He gave a short version of the story to the fox._

_Kyuubi nodded slowly. "That does make sense. But it doesn't explain everything. Some questions you need to ask this wise man of yours."_

"_Hey, don't make fun of him," Naruto admonished. "If it weren't for him, then we'd have no clue what was going on."_

_Kyuubi growled. "Well, here is the first question: if this world is being rearranged, why am I still connected to you? __Hm?__ Why didn't I show up in a separate body, like before the fourth sealed me in here?"_

_Naruto had no answer. _

"_Also, if this device was sealed away, who got through all the barriers and how?"_

_Again, Naruto couldn't reply._

"_Finally, did you mention the way the chakra reacted when you probed it? No human has chakra like that," Kyuubi rumbled. "And it doesn't explain how I knew that chakra."_

_Naruto rolled his eyes, finally having a comeback. "And how is he supposed to know how you recognized the chakra?"_

"_I told you, kit, whoever did this wasn't human! Whoever did this is more powerful than me! Ask your precious ancestor who he thinks has that power!" With that, Kyuubi faded into the darkness again. _

"_KYUUBI!"__ Naruto screamed! "GET BACK HERE!" _

_The fox responded with a swish of one of his tails. The tail itself didn't hit Naruto, but the air disturbance knocked him off his feet. Naruto skidded until he hit the wall __with an "__oof__." __"Stupid fox!__ I hate you!"_

-----------------------------

Naruto resurfaced in the real world with a huff. He folded his arms and waited for GG to finish with his meditation. The sun still wasn't up, but the sky was turning a light shade of gray, indicating that the bright orb was on its way. "Stupid fox."

GG opened his eyes several minutes later. "You don't seem too relaxed."

"I talked to the fox," Naruto snarled. "He has some questions."

GG frowned. "You are still connected to the demon?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that was the first of his questions. If this is supposed to rewrite the universe, why isn't Kyuubi free or something?"

"Describe the seal to me," GG ordered.

"It is called the Dead Demon Reaper Seal," Naruto explained. "The Shinigami reaches through the medium, the person that is doing the sealing, and puts the spirit of the other person in the body it will be sealed in and then takes the sealer's spirit as a price."

GG was silent for a couple of minutes, processing the confusing explanation that Naruto had given. "Well, then that would explain it."

Naruto frowned. "How so?"

"Well, there are very few things that are more powerful than death, so since the binding was done by the death god, it could only be undone by something equally or even more powerful."

"But Kyuubi says that whoever did this is more powerful than him," Naruto said.

GG nodded. "Well, that makes sense. The device drained his power, so he felt it was more powerful than him."

Naruto shook his head emphatically. "No. He says that the chakra that sent the box here, that controlled the box was not human."

"Hm." GG scratched his chin. "Not human, it says. Not human. There are things that are not human, yet not demon-level. It would also explain how they got through the barriers to get the device."

"Then why didn't that whatever just use their own power?" Naruto demanded.

GG shrugged. "It takes a great deal of chakra to control what the world turns into as well, otherwise the device would just go pell-mell with no specifications. Whoever is behind all of this needed a separate supply of chakra to power the device."

Naruto leaned back. "So, the person that did this is more powerful than Kyuubi, but not as powerful as the Shinigami. He was powerful enough to get through all the barricades the mage set up, but not strong enough to supply the chakra to activate and run it."

"That is a fair summary of what we can deduce," GG agreed. "Have you made a decision yet?"

"No," Naruto admitted. "I just can't think. I need more time to decide."

"Sometimes," GG said. "If you take too long to decide, time will decide for you."

Naruto frowned. "Huh?"

GG cleared his throat. "Say for instance, you think you might want to grow a beard. So you stop shaving while you decide. If you take too long to decide, you will have a beard whether you want it or not."

Naruto rubbed his head. "Why would I want to grow a beard?"

GG sighed. "It was a metaphor, boy," he snapped. "If you don't decide in time, the world will set as it is, you will forget your old life and you will never be able to change it back."

_Damn. I didn't think of that. _"So, what should I do?"

"Stay here, think about what you want to do, meditate a little bit more," GG ordered. "I need to go down and work."

Naruto sighed heavily as he watched the old man go back down the mountain. "Yeah, thanks, that's a lot of help," he snapped.

GG apparently had better hearing than Naruto thought, because he turned around, smirked and waved. Naruto stuck his tongue out, but tried to meditate anyway. Maybe he could get another talk with Kyuubi.

But, he had no such luck.

"Argh!" Naruto slammed his fist into the ground, bloodying his knuckles. "I can't—how am I supposed to decide?"

Naruto took a deep breath and sent himself into a trance again. He didn't try for Kyuubi, but instead for a way to clear his mind and think.

_Okay. This world isn't real yet. It was created by that box-device thing. It could be real, though, if I let things go the way they are. _

_So, the fate of the world is in MY hands?!?!_

_HOW THE HELL __AM__ I SUPPOSED TO MAKE THAT DECISION? _

Naruto snapped out of his mediative trance and buried his face in his hands as the enormity of his situation hit him. In his hands was the fate _of the world. _So many people, so much weight. Naruto began to hyperventilate.

_Stop. Breathe._

_Breathe._

_Okay, don't freak out. I have a chance to do some good here, real good, right? _

_It's simple. I know what the world in general is like in the Old World, I just need to find out about this New World and whichever is better for the most people, is the one I'll choose. Yeah, that's it. _

Decision made, Naruto jumped up and began to make his way back down the mountain. He scrambled down, again trying not to use his chakra. The teen finally ended the goat trail on top of the big building, looking down the valley as the first rays of morning light hit the small community. Again, Naruto was struck with the sheer beauty of the place. He smiled and went downstairs to his great-grandfather's office.

His father was waiting outside. "Hey. You were gone early this morning."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah. GG literally dragged me out of bed and up onto the mountain to do some meditating."

Minato chuckled. "I remember him being like that. He's definitely an early bird. So, what did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing." Naruto lied. "We _meditated." _

Minato laughed out loud this time. "Indeed. Did he give you his little speech about how terrible ninja meditations are?"

Naruto nodded and joined his father outside the office. "Yeah. He taught me the better way, too."

"Really? He never taught me. Of course, I took his precious granddaughter away from him, so, he was never too fond of me," he chuckled.

Naruto leaned back and thought about the best way to get his father to talk about the political status of all the countries. From what he could tell, Konoha was the same as in the Old World.

"Hey, Dad," Naruto said slowly.

"Hm?"

"Uh, GG mentioned something called Akatsuki. Do you know what it is?"

Minato sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. They are a very dangerous organization of S-class criminals out collecting Biju. For some unknown reason."

_So, __Akatsuki's__ the same here. Causing mayhem and madness for all and going after, no wait they wouldn't go after me. At least, they shouldn't. They have no clue that Kyuubi is connected to me. Okay, next big bad. __Orochimaru._

"Uh, are there any Konoha ninjas in Akatsuki?" Naruto asked.

"As far as I know, there was only one, who later left," Minato answered. "He was actually an old friend of Jiraya's."

Naruto shot his father a glance. "Do you mean Orochimaru?"

Minato frowned at him. "Yes. He also founded the Village Hidden in the Sound. How did you know about him?"

"He was, uh, part of the curriculum at the Academy dealt with legendary ninjas, which included the Sannin," Naruto answered, hoping his father would buy it.

The Hokage nodded and tilted his head back, leaning against the wall.

"So, why are you here?" Naruto asked.

Minato smiled. "I wanted to talk to him about something, but he was busy. The title of Hokage doesn't mean quite as much as that of son-in-law."

_He seems slightly suspicious. _Several minutes passed in silence. "So, Dad, I've been wondering . . ."

"Yes?"

Naruto chewed his lip. _I need to get him to talk about politics. _"I've been thinking about what it's like to be Hokage." _Tch__. Yeah, that's an understatement. I've always wanted to be Hokage. _

"That's nothing new," Minato responded. "Any particular reason you're bringing it up now?"

_So, some things don't change. _"Well, I understand some aspects, but I've been wondering about the politics side of it."

Minato seemed surprised. "Really? What do you want to know?"

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, well, I guess I just want to know about the other countries, what they're like, what they're status is and how you deal with each one, I guess."

"That will be a long explanation," Minato warned. "If you really want to know."

"Better get started, then," Naruto advised with a grin.

"Okay, I guess, we'll start with the Land of Earth. The Land of Earth is one of the Five Great Countries and houses the Village Hidden in the Rocks, or Iwakagure. Konoha and Iwa haven't always been on friendly terms and the conditions in the Rock Village and Earth Country, are sometimes rough, geographically. They often have problems with famines, because so much of the country is barren rock. For this reason, the Tschuikage or feudal lord of the land will invade other countries to get more fertile land. As it is right now, they are not doing anything except recovering. The last ninja war was hard on the Rock Village, so they've been keeping to themselves lately," Minato finished.

Naruto nodded, absorbing all of this. _That sounds just the same as it is __back__ home. No help there. _"Okay, what about the Land of Wind?"

"The Land of Wind is a large, desolate desert, basically. In the middle of it is Sunakagure, the Village Hidden in the Sand. Most of the cities are near water sources and we trade with them often. Leaf and Sand are on good terms most of the time. There was a time a couple of years ago when the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was hiring out Konoha ninjas instead of Suna ninjas, but myself, the Daimyo and the Fourth Kazekage had a meeting and straightened things out, I'd say about four years ago. Leaf avoided a possibly devastating war."

"How so?"

Minato put his hands behind his head. "You see, Sand was on the verge of attacking Leaf. Sound, the village founded by Orochimaru, would have been their ally in the attack. When Sand backed out, Sound was not happy. Orochimaru is a very vengeful person. He attacked Sand, but by the time Leaf ninjas had arrived to provide support, Sand had beaten them back. They suffered minor losses, but unfortunately, those losses included the death of one of the Kazekage's children, who decided to fight anyway, despite being a genin."

_One of the __Kazekage's__ kids?__Gaara__Kankuro__Temari_"Which one?"

Minato stood as the door opened. "Hm?"

"Which one of the Kazekage's kids died in the attack?" Naruto asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

"Oh, I think it was Temari, his . . ."

_Temari__Temari__Temari__ is dead in this world. God, that sucks! But __Temari's__ an awesome fighter, even when she was fifteen! She wouldn't die. No way. _

"Naruto?"

The teen snapped his head up. "Sorry, I just got lost in thought. How did the brothers react?"

Minato frowned and stared at him. "Brothers? The Kazekage only had two kids, Temari and Kankuro."

_WHAT? "_Oh, okay, sorry my mistake."

Minato gave his son a strange look as he went off to get a drink of water.

_But, but what about __Gaara__Gaara__ is __Temari's__ brother, too! Don't tell me that they don't count him as a brother because he's a demon container! Those bastards! _

_Or . . ._

_Does he not exist in this world? How? How can he not exist in this world? _

_Unless, he was born specifically so that he could be the __Shukaku__Jinchurriki_

_Then, the Fourth __Kazekage__ didn't seal __Shukaku__ in anyone in this world, so __Gaara__ was never born? _

_God.__ How cold. _

_Stop it. Stop. I need to think, to focus only on what to do about this world-changing thingy. _

_But this isn't about __Gaara__ or __Temari__its__ about the greater good of the world. _

_Yeah, that's right. Focus only on the device and what to do._

Naruto raised his head and stared into the middle distance before realizing he'd only gotten information on two of the countries he needed.

"Damn!"

"What is it?"

Naruto jumped at the sound of his father's voice. "Yeah?"

"What were you swearing about?" he wondered.

"Uh, nothing." Naruto lied.

Clearly, Minato didn't believe him, but he sat down next to Naruto again. "Do you still want to know about politics?"

"Oh, yeah," Naruto replied, nodding his head vigorously.

"Okay, next up would be the Land of Lightning, which is the home to the Village Hidden in the Clouds, or Kumogakure. Geographically speaking, it is a peninsula with a large mountain range right down middle. Due to this, and the many rivers coming from that mountain, the Land of Lightning has many hotsprings. It was involved in the ninja war about twelve or thirteen years ago, which almost restarted when Hinata was almost kidnapped. I don't suppose you remember this, you were at the most three years old, but the Cloud demanded Hyuuga Hiashi's body in penance because he killed the would-be kidnapper, but Hizashi, Hiashi's twin, let himself be killed in his brother's place. Leaf and Lightning don't interact all that much, but when we do it is fairly friendly. So, we've done Earth, Wind and Lightning. All that's left is Water."

Naruto nodded. _Still the same.__ How am I supposed to make a decision if this keeps up?_

"So, the Land of Water. The Village Hidden in the Mist. Well, they don't really involve themselves with other countries, probably because the country is completely isolated by water. Actually, the Land of Water is the smallest of the five great countries, and they used to hold terrible graduation tests which involved mass murder of some kind. The most famous ninjas are a band of sword-wielding maniacs known as the Seven Swordsmen. The seven swords they wield are completely unique and passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, for this generation, all seven ended up being S-ranked criminals. One tried to overthrow the Mizukage and I know for sure that another is in Akatsuki. But Kirikagure has reformed its Academy policies and their ninja force is slowly getting stronger," Minato finished.

As he did, the door to GG's office opened and the grumpy little man from before motioned Minato in. "Come on, Hopscotch, he's waiting."

Minato smiled down at Naruto and hurried into the room. Once he was alone again, Naruto barely resisted the urge to slam his head against the wall. _Damn! That didn't help at all. Except for minor differences, everything is the same. On the whole, as far as I can tell, all the countries are in the same state. _

_In short, history has followed the same course, just with slight differences sometimes. Sure, Leaf didn't go through that huge war, but _now _its__ exactly the same as the Old Leaf. _

_So, what do I do? _

-------------------

An hour later, Naruto had no answer to his problem, but he did have a temporary solution.

Minato walked out of the office, sighing and scratching his head. "You're still here?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I needed to talk to GG."

"Well, he knew somehow, so he said to send you in," Minato replied.

Naruto nodded again and strode into the room confidently. GG gave him a calculating look. "You haven't decided."

"Not on the final decision, no," Naruto admitted. "But I thought about what you said about the beard thing, and I figured that if I take a long time and I decide to go back, it might be too late. I don't want to take that chance. So, even though I haven't decided between the two worlds, I want to look for the device, just in case."

GG nodded consideringly.

Naruto leaned forward and placed his hands on the desk. "So, how do I do it?"

GG grinned.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"So? How am I going to find this thing?" Naruto asked.

GG grinned. "Because it was created by a mage, the only way to find is through magic."

"Magic?" Naruto asked. "You mean like Abra Cadabra, sparks and fireworks magic? "Which card is yours" magic?"

GG rolled his eyes. "No, unfortunately, when most people think of magic, that is what they think of. The magic I speak of is the way of the mage. Magic, mage, see the resemblance? Magic is simply a derivative of the word mage. We don't do card tricks."

"Oh." Naruto answered, but pouted in his head. _But they're so much fun. Especially with __Shika__cause__ he just ignores me and I can say "Is this your card?" as long as I want. Everybody else hits me after the fifth card._

"Stop daydreaming, boy," GG snapped, bringing Naruto back to the conversation. "You need to be able to track the energy of the device just like you would trail chakra using your ninja training," GG explained.

Naruto frowned and scratched the back of his head. "But it took me years to be able to sense and follow chakra, once I learned what chakra was," Naruto said. "We don't have years."

"No, we don't. So you will be on an accelerated course," GG replied.

" . . . it's gonna hurt, isn't it?"

------------------------------------------------------------

"Why are we out here?" Naruto asked. "We already meditated this morning, do I need to work on it more?"

GG chuckled. "Nope. This is something different. There is a slight difference between chakra, as you call it, and _Areah Broah, _or spirit energy, as we call it. When you activated you _Areah __Wahre_ you used chakra, which is why they only partially came. You must learn to access your spirit energy, the power of the mage that runs through your blood," he explained.

Naruto nodded. "So, what are we doing out here?"

"I have cast a spell on this part of the mountain range," GG said.

Naruto frowned. "What kind of spell?"

"You'll see. I have also led you outside the bounds of the clan, which means you must find your way back on your own."

"Huh?" Naruto asked. "How am I supposed to do that?"

GG turned around and smiled at him. "Be creative, boy." He then vanished in a swirl of wind.

Naruto stared at the spot where his great-grandfather was. "Okay, I gotta learn that trick."

"But first, I have to get back to the valley. Okay, I'll just do that chant-thingie again. Right?" Naruto closed his eyes and tried to center his chakra, only to find he couldn't.

He frowned at the lack of centered chakra. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Naruto closed his eyes and tried again, searching inside himself for his chakra. He reached for it like he usually did, right for the center of his being, but it was as though something was blocking it. Naruto frowned and tried harder to access his chakra, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't get his chakra.

_Okay, nothing for it. _Pushing down panic, Naruto closed his eyes and went into meditation, just like GG taught him. _Okay, looking for chakra._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Naruto's blue eyes opened in his mindscape, a network of tunnels and rooms that greatly resembled a sewer. He hurried through the tunnels along a somewhat familiar path. He knew the way to the fox's chamber better than to his own chakra well, oddly enough. He'd never had to go looking for his own chakra, it had always been right there. Naruto had to keep himself from running. _

_He arrived at the Chakra __Well__ quickly and hurried up to the large and deep well before stopping and staring. _

"_Huh?"_

_It was locked up, with a crisscrossing of metal bars covering the opening. Naruto reached down and grabbed the bars, pulling up, but they didn't budge. He couldn't reach his hands through the bars to get to his chakra, either. _

"_What the hell?" Naruto demanded. He jumped up on the well, braced his feet on the sides and yanked as hard as he could on the bars. __"__Urrrgh__!"__ He pulled until his arms ached and his hands got sweaty. Sweaty hands made a bad grip, though and the teen fell back onto the floor, landing hard on his butt. _

"_Ooof__!"__ He took a deep breath, got up and wiped his hands off _

_Naruto ran his hands through his hair. "Why can't I access my chakra? What is blocking it?"_

_I have cast a spell on this part of the mountain range. _

"_Oh, you've got to be kidding __me,"Naruto__ growled. "Did he find some way to suppress chakra on this part of the mountain or something?"_

_Naruto threw himself down and punched the ground. "What am I supposed to do now?"_

He jumped back up and began to pace, arms folded, eyes narrowed. "_I can't access my chakra. How did that old geezer do that? __Grr__ I hate him. When I get back, I'm gonna prank him so bad . . . Okay, focus instead. Just focus. To get into the valley, I need to be able to see the trail, since I don't have the herbs. __The _Areah Wahre. _I need to activate them. What did GG say?"_

"When you activated your _Areah __Wahre_, you used your chakra, which is why they did not fully activate."

_Naruto made a face. "Okay, so I need to use something other than chakra to access my spirit eyes, but what?"_

_He closed his eyes and thought harder, though it hurt his head a little. GG's voice came to him again. _

"Spirit energy."

_Naruto frowned. "What is spirit energy? How do I access it? __GG said that spirit energy and chakra were close, but not the same.__ So, I need to find a way to tap into the spirit energy that I have. Okay."_

_Naruto stared around his mindscape, eyes narrowing. __"Where to start?"_

_He sat down against a wall and folded his arms, thinking hard. "Well, I obviously can't just go running around pell-mell in my mind. I don't know every nook and cranny, and despite what everyone says, my mind is not that small, so it would take a while."_

_Naruto sighed and scratched his head. "I don't even know what I'm looking for. All I know is what GG told me and that's not much! If that's the case, I should start with everything I know about spirit energy, right?" _

_Naruto nodded sharply, answering himself, "Right.__To the Memory Center."_

_Naruto wove his way through the halls until he reached the Memory Center. It wasn't a series of hallways with doors that you could go into. No, Naruto's Memory Center was more like a library. Each memory was contained in a box, and all of the Memory-boxes were all shelved. Each box was a different color, depending on what the box contained. Yellow boxes were happy memories. Dark boxes were bad memories. Pale blue boxes were soothing memories. Orange boxes were exciting memories, while red boxes signified stressful memories. Naruto could go into the memory center and look for each memory by a dozen different things. When he pulled a box out, and opened it, all of the senses and emotions associated with that memory flooded him, enabling him to relive it and even slow it down to analyze things. _

_The blonde teen stepped up to a shelf and said, "Spirit energy."_

_Pitifully few boxes appeared. Naruto sighed and grabbed one. _

_He opened it and _was engulfed by cool air and the scent of trees and spring water.

"There is a slight difference between chakra, as you call it, and _Areah Broah, _or spirit energy, as we call it. When you activated you _Areah __Wahre_ you used chakra, which is why they only partially came. You must learn to access your spirit energy, the power of the mage that runs through your blood," he explained.

_Naruto sighed and closed the box again. He reached for another. This one was beige with touches of red, indicating a small amount of stress was involved with the memory. It also had ridges, showing it was a collection of very closely related memories. He opened it. _

He could feel the power flowing in his eyes. He could see little bits of green glowing dust in the air. They were coming from everything around him, the ground, the rocks, what little shrubbery there was, but most of all, from his family, especially his mom and dad. _What are they?_

_--_

Emanating from his pupil and going straight through his iris to the whites of his eyes, were tentacles of green, the same color as the spirit particles.

--

They began to form shapes and symbols on the face of a rock. On the last syllable of the chant, Meara threw out the bag of herbs and blood. The symbols glowed brilliant green, which then turned to white and the side of the mountain dissolved.

--

Green light blinded him, searing his eyes and shooting pain through his skull. So many spirit particles, his eyes couldn't handle them. A gnarled hand moved over his eyes and he felt unfamiliar power course through him.

_Naruto focused on that feeling, on that power. "This must be GG spirit energy. So, I know what it feels like, although that's his and not mine." Naruto came to in the Memory Center and closed the box. _

_He frowned at the last one, feeling a sense of foreboding cover him. It was pure black, with streaks of virulent red covering it. Oddly enough, it also had claw marks on the side. Naruto __frowned,__ he'd never seen anything like that. As he looked at it, dread settled deep in his stomach. He reached out, trying to touch it, but broke out in sweat. _

"_How can I sweat in my mind? How can I be afraid?" Naruto licked his lips and grabbed the box. Instantly, his stomach tightened to the point where he thought he would throw up. _

_His hands were trembling as he held the box. "Just open it." Naruto tried to open the box, but it was stuck. Frowning, he tried again, finally having to pull at the box from either side with both hands, wrenching it apart. _

Naruto gasped as the cold hit him. It speared his body like a thousand needles, stealing his breath and freezing his blood. His teeth chattered and his hands shook. _No wonder this had so much red in it. _Naruto opened his eyes and looked around, stopping the memory replay so he could see.

He was in a library, with all kinds of high shelves and musty-looking books. There were glowing red coals in a fireplace that he was sitting next to. He shuddered in fear. Something about this place gave him bad feelings. He turned back to what he should have been looking at. It was a thick, ugly book with old yellowed pages and some form of weird writing on them.

Naruto frowned as he realized he could read these words. He cast a look around. He knew that language and this room, but couldn't place it. _I know this room. _He shivered, but not from the cold as something unpleasant again hit him. He did not want to be here, he wanted to get out. This place made him feel scared and small.

_Let's get out of here soon. I mean it. _Naruto turned back to the big book and began to check the page he was on, looking for clues of spirit energy.

" _ . . often confused with the ninja concept of chakra. Chakra is something that every living thing has, it is essential to life. It is the use and molding of chakra that is the basis of ninja fighting and all jutsus. _Areah Broah _is not common to every living thing. __It's__ Japanese translation, "spirit energy," is a misleading translation, indicating that the _Areah Broah _is something all spirits have, while it is in fact not. _

Areah Broah _is in theory a specialized form of chakra that is closer to the concept of a __kekkei__ genkai. The differences between regular chakra and _Areah Broah _have never been studied in detail and thus __there is no concrete proof that they are separate, save for the fact that ninjas who are adept at using chakra cannot use spells based on _Areah Broah, _despite how much they train it._

_Continuing with the history, the concept of Areah Broah was pioneered by the very first mage, a man known as Churaeah __Horae__. He was the first to tap into his _Areah Broah. _Horae__ did this by putting himself in Death Meditation, a practice which sends the person's mind and body to a state of virtual comatose conditions. The heart rate slows down and breathing becomes nearly imperceptible. In the case of the mind, the consciousness is temporarily separated from the spirit, allowing the person in Death Meditation to see the elements of his spirit with an analytical eye and identify each one. _

_This process is very difficult. There are three levels to meditation. _

_First, there is the entrance to the mindscape. The mindscape is achieved easily. To enter the mindscape, simply go into a state of deep meditation. With minimal training, once in meditation, reawakening in the mindscape is easy. _

_The second level is to achieve meditation while in the mindscape. At this point, the mind will go to what is known as the astral plane. The astral plane is a plane of existence that is unavailable to the physical body and can only be entered with the spirit. Geographic location and physical attributes consequentially have no meaning in the astral plane, only the qualities and strength of the spirit. This stage is far more difficult to achieve than the first one. _

_The third stage is by far the hardest to reach. It requires complete control over the entirety of the spirit and mind and can usually only be reached by those who are masters of their _Areah Broah. _The process of separating the logical mind from the rest of the spirit is different for every individual and thus cannot be cataloged by any book. Those who seek to reach Death Meditation usually must train for years._

The book went on, but Naruto had read enough. He gave on last look to the frightening library, still unable to figure out where he knew it from, and then exited the box,_ closing it and shoved it back onto the shelf, wishing he could wash his hands. _

"_Okay, so that's certainly interesting," Naruto murmured. "I'll have to think about that. But, maybe I can find my spirit energy without the Death Meditation. No harm in trying, right?"_

_Naruto left the Memory Center and wandered through the halls of his mind. He normally would have gone to the chakra well, but that was closed off, so he wandered instead to the Stream of Consciousness. Naruto's Stream of Consciousness emanated from the Center of his Mind and flowed through the rest of him as he thought and lived. His Stream of Consciousness right now was more like a little trickle, since he was inside his own mind, but he followed it to the Waterfall, the point where his thoughts stopped being instantaneous. He jumped down the Waterfall's edge and landed next to the Reflecting Pool, where all of his previous thoughts swirled around. Next to it, there was a small tide pool, where he could pull out thoughts from before and inspect them. _

_Sometimes, Naruto used the Memory Center and the Reflecting Pool together, to put together a memory and what he was thinking at the time, like all the times he'd asked Sakura out when she obviously hated him. _

_Naruto sighed and stared down at the Reflecting Pool, unsure of why he'd come. The Reflecting Pool wasn't going to help him now. He reached up and rubbed his hands over his face. "I wanted to think about my problem. This world or the old world, but I shouldn't think of it now! I need to get back into the valley."_

_Naruto jumped up and walked out. "I need to find my _Areah Broah. _Okay, where to next?"_

_The blonde hurried to the Control Area, the room that controlled and showed all of his life signs. He stepped in and gave a glance to all of his vitals, noting with some concern that his skin registered as very, very cold. Naruto frowned at it. _

"_Hm.__ I must have been in here longer than I thought," Naruto murmured. _

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Naruto opened his eyes and shivered. "Damn. Night's nearly fallen." He jumped up and rubbed his legs, hoping desperately to get some feeling back in them. "Brr."

"Okay, I don't think I'm going to get back to the valley tonight," Naruto muttered, stamping his legs hard on the ground and flapping his arms. "So, I should find shelter and probably start a fire to keep warm."

Naruto hurried through the mountain passages until he came down beneath the tree line. He gathered some kindling and smaller logs and carried them to his shelter. He'd found a small cave, naturally making sure he knew how deep it was. He sighed and pulled a mini survival pack out of his back pocket. It didn't contain much, just some matches and very small flares and a few other essentials. Naruto pulled out a kunai he'd been hiding from his mother and hacked off a small chunk of hair, throwing it on the pile of kindling.

"Well," Naruto murmured, staring at his lone match. "You had better work."

To Naruto's great relief, it did.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto cracked his neck, rubbing at it, and scowled. He'd been trying all morning to reach the astral plane, but not quite making it. He could sorta meditate while in his mindscape, but he could not reach the stupid astral plane.

"What am I missing?" Naruto asked, punching the ground in frustration. He paced back and forth, arms folded, brow furrowed, deep in thought.

"Okay, how did I first get into my mindscape?" Naruto wondered. He thought back. "I know it wasn't through meditation."

Naruto closed his eyes and ran through his memories. "Ah-ha! When Ero-Sennin pushed me off that cliff and I had to ask the fox for his chakra!"

The blonde nodded sharply. "Yup. That's the first time I got into my mindscape. Well, I guess that's . . . totally useless! How does that help me? What am I going to do to get to the astral plane? Jump off another cliff?"

Naruto stopped pacing as the lightbulb above his head dinged on, but only paritally. "Jump off a cliff?" He grinned and punched the air. "Of course, that's perfect!" _I got to my mindscape because my life depended on it. I can always do big stuff when I absolutely need to! Perfect!_

He glanced around. "And I'm in the mountains, where there's tons of cliffs!"

Naruto started to run towards one, but stopped when he remembered what the book had said._ Geographic location and physical attributes have no meaning. "_Aw, man. And I was so close, too!"

He focused on what else the book had said about the elusive astral plane. "It said the astral plane can be achieved only by the spirit." Naruto sat down and folded his arms in concentration. _I'm missing something again. __Some really easy step._Now, the lightbulb turned all the way on. "Of course! How stupid of me!"

Naruto lowered his eyelids and sent himself to an all-too-familiar place.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

_Naruto opened his eyes and grinned at the tunnels of his mind. "Okay. Now, where to find a cliff in my mind? Huh. Where would there be a cliff in my head?"_

_He sat down and scratched his chin, thinking hard about his mindscape. __"__Waaait__ a minute.__ I think I know." _

_Naruto jumped up and began to run down a random hallway, away from the center of his mind. He kept running and running and running until there stopped being doors and then there stopped being lights and suddenly, there stopped being floors. _

"_Hey! I found a cliff! At the edge of my mind! __Yeah!"_

_Naruto was so elated he forgot for while that he was supposed to be trying to get into the astral plane. "Wait. Why am I doing this? . . . __oh__Right.__Heh__ But . . ."_

_He frowned as the hair whipped past his head. "I didn't exactly try to get into my mindscape last time. I just ended up there because I was scared I'd die. But I can't exactly die here. Damn. I need to get out of here and think some more."_

_As he said this, Naruto closed his eyes and willed himself back to the real world. But when he opened them he was still in freefall. "Huh?"_

_Naruto tried again, but he was still falling. "Okay. I can't get back. . . . I CAN'T GET BACK! __AHHHHH!"_

_Suffice it to say, Naruto started freaking out. "I can't get out! I can't get back to the real world! I'll be stuck here falling like this forever! __Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh__!"_

_Naruto flapped his arms, trying to fly back up and get into his mind so he could get out of it. __"__Ahhhhhhhhh__!"_

_Somewhere in his mind, Naruto understood that the only way to gain control of this situation was to get to the astral plane. __"ASTRAL PLANE!__ AHHHHHHHHHHH! ASTRAL PLANE! __AHHHHHHHH!"__ Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and continued this __chantas__ the air rushed past his ears. _

"_Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh__!"_

"_Hey! What's your problem?"_

_Naruto opened his eyes. "Huh?" He looked around. He wasn't falling anymore, but rather was standing in a desert, as the wind swirled around them. "Where am I?"_

"_The astral plane, silly!"_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

_Naruto blinked at the person who was standing in front of him. He was just a regular-looking guy, brown hair, eyes of an indistinguishable color and a big, goofy grin plastered on his face. Naruto stared up at him. "Huh?"_

"_What the matter? You deaf or stupid?" the man asked, his eyes curving into upside down __u's_

"_Depends on who you ask and how annoyed they are with me," Naruto responded, pushing __himself__ up off the ground. _

_The other man threw his head back and laughed. "I think I like you, kid."_

_Naruto looked around at the landscape. Sand dunes, as far as the eye could see, the wind __occasinally__ whipping up some of the orange-beige sand into a swirl before it either moved off or settled down. The sky was bright blue and not a cloud dared to challenge the sun's domain. Naruto felt like he'd been dropped into the middle of the Wind Country. "So, this is the astral plane?"_

"_Indeed." The other man nodded, looking around as well. "__Whadaya__ think?"_

_Naruto shrugged. "I was kinda expecting something more along the lines of a big, white nothingness," he answered honestly. _

_The brunette nodded absently, scratching his chin. "Yeah, well, the astral plane is a world just like any other, except different in that it is only for spirits."_

_Naruto frowned at the man. "What is that supposed to mean? And who are you?"_

"_Which question do you want me to answer first?"_

"_Just tell me your name and then explain about the astral plane. Please," he added as an afterthought. _

"_My name is __Sen__," he answered and bowed deeply. "It is a pleasure to meet you, uh . . ."_

"_Naruto," he supplied. "Now, what do you know about the astral plane?"_

_Sen__ smiled. "Impatient, aren't we, Naruto?" _

"_Yeah, well, I'm kinda on a tight schedule, so I can't waste a ton of time," he answered. Well, it's true. If I waste too much time, the decision will be out of my hands. _

"_Alright, Mr. Deadline," __Sen__ teased.__"The astral plane.__ It is a plane of existence, or dimension, if you will, that is separate from the physical plane. Think of the physical plane as the shore and the astral plane as the ocean, if that helps. They are obviously quite separate, but their edges overlap, although most humans reside completely in the physical plane."_

_Naruto nodded, frowning. That makes a little bit of sense, I guess. _

"_Most people stay on the shore, all the time," __Sen__ continued. "They will occasionally get their feet wet in the overlapping area, and that is the concept of meditation and the mindscape. Then, there are the people like you and me, who will, to keep the metaphor up, go swimming. __In layman's terms, those who will go farther into the ocean."_

_Sen__ began to pace back and forth in a very professor-like mode, hands folded behind his back and head bent down. __"Now, as to my comment about the two worlds.__ To continue the metaphor that the astral plane is like an ocean, it holds its own ecosystem and world in itself."_

_Naruto frowned. __"Really?__ This doesn't look like much of a world," he commented, gesturing to the desert-like conditions around them. _

"_That is because we are only on the surface," __Sen__ answered, laughing. "Think about it. If you look at the surface of the ocean, it is apparently a blue expanse of waves stretching into eternity. There isn't that much to indicate how complex it truly __is,__ is there? No, to completely understand the ocean and the astral plane, it is necessary to immerse oneself completely in it."_

_Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Look this is al—" _

"_Right now," __Sen__ talked over him. "The two of us are tied to the physical world, to the shore, by a rope. We are merely floating, skimming the edge. However, if we were to cut that rope, to allow our spirits to reside permanently in the astral plane, well, who knows what adventures and beauties would lie in wait for us."_

_He stopped talking, just staring up at the sky. Naruto blinked. __"Uh, __Sen__?"_

_The brown-haired man snapped out of his daze and looked back to Naruto. "Yes?"_

"_How do you know all of this?" he asked. _

_Sen__ smiled. "I've studied it," he answered. Then he went back to staring at the sky. _

_Naruto blinked at him. That was helpful. __"__Sen__?"_

"_Yes?" he sighed, the first indication that Naruto was being a pest. _

_Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a slightly goofy grin. "Do you know anything about Death Meditation?"_

_Though the other man didn't move, Naruto could tell that __Sen__ had snapped to attention. The air between them was suddenly rife with tension. "Why," __Sen__ whispered. "Would you want to know about that?"_

"_I need to learn how to do it," Naruto replied truthfully. _

_Sen__ turned to Naruto, his eyes closed. "That is not something to joke about, child."_

"_That's fine," Naruto said. "I'm not joking. I need to learn Death Meditation."_

_Sen__ spun around and began to walk away, only to spin back and stomp back to Naruto. "Why?" he demanded. "Why? Why would you, a child, a novice who has clearly stumbled upon this dimension by accident, want to attempt something so dangerous and advanced? What motive could you possibly have?"_

_Naruto didn't answer his __question,__ but shot back his own inquiries. "Why are you so upset that I mentioned it? What is so bad about the Death Meditation?"_

"_Death Meditation . . ." __Sen__ snarled. He paced again, but it was nothing like the __teacherly__ air from before. His movements now were jerky and tense. "You have no idea what forces you will be messing with!"_

"_Forces?"__ Naruto asked. "What are you talking about? The book I read just said that—" _

"_Books!"__Sen__ spat. "Books know nothing. Books can truly tell you nothing about Death Meditation. They cannot say what such a thing does or will do, or what it feels like. And they cannot say what it does to others! Books know nothing!"_

_Naruto sighed __aggravatedly__. "_Listen, _Sen__! I need to access my _Areah Broah! _The only way I know to do that is through Death Meditation!"_

_Sen__ stopped his pacing and snapped his head towards Naruto. "_Areah Broah. _Spirit Energy.__ Why would you be looking for that? And why are you always in such a hurry?" __Sen__ interrogated._

_Naruto debated what to tell Sen. _Should I tell him the whole truth? Part of the truth? Tell him what's going on in general, but no specifics? _"There is a . . . situation that I . . . might need to remedy. To do so, I need my _Areah Broah," _Naruto hesitated. _

_The brunette locked eyes with Naruto, who felt as if those eyes were taking apart his soul. But he refused to look away. "_Might _need to remedy? What does that mean?"_

_Naruto sighed. "I don't know if I need to fix it. I need to make that decision, but I want to be able to access the _Areah Broah_ in case I need to." _

"_You need to do __this,__ you might need to do that, et cetera." __Sen__ began to pace again, waving his arms. "And the only way you can do this is through Death Meditation?"_

_Naruto nodded. "It's the only way I know. If you know another way, then tell me!"_

_Sen__ continued pacing, calming down by degrees. Naruto just watched, waiting. _What is this guy's problem? Why did he freak out so much about the Death Meditation?

_Finally, __Sen__ stopped pacing and took a deep breath. "Forgive me for my reactions earlier. My sensei used to practice Death Meditation. He went slowly mad from ripping himself apart so often."_

Ripping himself apart? _Naruto gulped that didn't sound good. "What do you mean, ripping __himself__ apart? Is that what death mediation is?"_

_Sen__ sighed again. "So, I must explain Death Meditation to you as well, eh?"_

_Naruto shrugged. "I just read a little bit about it in a book," he admitted. _All I know is that it's the way to get to my _Areah Broah. "Can you help me a little bit?"_

_Sen__ frowned, clearly uncertain. Naruto hurried to reassure him. "I only need to do it once, after all. Just tell me about it and I'll decide if it's too dangerous afterwards. I swear I'll think on it. Please just tell me."_

_Sen__ sighed. "You'd try even if I didn't tell you, wouldn't you?"_

_Naruto scratched the back of his head. "You caught me," he said chuckling. "So it'd be better if you told me instead of letting me do something stupid." _

_Sen__ rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you are stubborn." He sighed again, heavier than before. "Okay, sit down." _

_Naruto went to sit down and suddenly stopped, tilting his head to hear __better_Huh? Did someone just call my name? _He raised his head and looked around, but all he could see was sand, everywhere. _

"_What's wrong? Having second thoughts?" __Sen__ asked, almost hopeful. _

_Naruto shook his head. "No, I thought I heard someone call my name." _

_He turned around in a circle, again hearing that faint calling, but there was no one there. He waited a minute, but it didn't sound again. Giving it up as nothing, Naruto sat and faced Sen._

_Sen__ sighed. "Death Meditation is very hard to describe."_

Great, _Naruto thought. _It's hard enough for me to learn by words when a concept is explained simply. A confusing idea? I'll never get this! The only way for me to get something is by doing it, practicing.

"_You should start paying attention, now," __Sen__ admonished. _

_Naruto snapped his head up and scratched the back of it, giving the man a sheepish grin. "Sorry."_

"_I assume you know the physical meaning of this technique's title," __Sen__ began. "The body's functions slow to a coma-like state that can appear like death to the untrained observer. However, there is another reason behind the name of Death Meditation." __Sen__ stopped talking. _

_Naruto leaned forward. "What is it?"_

"_The mind is purely logical and emotionless part of you, while your spirit is the essence of who you are, your emotions, beliefs, and all the rest are held. In Death Meditation, the mind and the spirit are pulled apart. " __Sen__ explained. "That is what I meant by ripping yourself apart. You literally pull your mind away from yourself." He stood up and began to pace again. _

"_By doing so, the connection between the mind and the spirit is weakened," __Sen__ continued. "If one undergoes the procedure too often, the connection will end up being so degraded that the logical part of the mind will have no control over the rest of you. Your instincts, emotions will take complete control of you." __Sen__ stopped speaking and walking, simply staring into the middle distance, lost in thought. _

_Naruto waited a minute. _He does this a lot.

_With a sigh, the teenager stood up. __"__Sen__ How did your sensei achieve Death Meditation?" _

_Sen__ frowned. "What do you mean?"_

"_The book I read," Naruto began. "It said that the process is different for each person, like each person's mindscape is different. Did your sensei ever say anything? Give any tips?"_

"_Huh," __Sen__ snorted. "That is the most ridiculous book that I have ever heard of. The process of Death Meditation is the same for every living being. Do you know why Death Meditation has the effect on the physical body that it does?"_

_Naruto shook his head. _

"_Think about it. What happens in your mindscape has no effect on your body and what happens here—" __Sen__ made a wide spinning gesture, indicating the astral plane. "—should not __effect__ your physical body."_

_Naruto thought about that. It was __true,__ he'd occasionally stubbed his toe or the like in his mindscape. Even there, he wasn't the most graceful person. But when he'd come to, he had no bruise or wounds. So, indeed, why did this technique have such an effect on the physical body? _

"_So you realized it," __Sen__ said, scrutinizing his face. "Death Meditation is unlike anything you've experienced and it is very dangerous."_

_Sen__ began to pace, yet again. "What do people say symbolizes the essence of your being, your emotions?"_

_Naruto blinked and frowned. "Huh? What do you mean?"_

"_Your heart!"__Sen__ snapped. "What is often said to be the center of who you are__I'm giving my heart to you' or 'Put your heart into it.' Your heart represents your spirit, while your head is your mind."_

"_But . . ." Naruto scratched the top of his head. "How am I supposed to look at my heart? To separate my heart from my mind, I'd have to cut it out or something!" Naruto glared at Sen. _

_Sen__ raised an eyebrow._

"_What?" Naruto demanded. "I've gotta cut my heart out?"_

"_Why do you think it's called Death Meditation, Naruto?"_

"_I've gotta . . . cut my heart out?" Naruto's hand came up and covered his chest. _That is freaky intense! What is up with that! Cut my heart out? What?

_Sen__ nodded and stepped closer to the shocked teen. "Indeed. That is what you've got to do. You must cut your heart out while in the astral plane. It is the only way I know of."_

"_Isn't that a bit, __well, . . .__ EXTREME?!" Naruto screamed, arms flapping._

_Sen__ rolled his eyes. "Of course it is extreme! This is not something that you can do lightly! It is the act of putting your whole heart into what you are doing."_

"_More like out of it!" Naruto shot back, still rather unnerved. He rubbed his hand over his chest and envisioned holding his heart in his hand._

_A hand landed on Naruto's shoulder and brought him back to the real world. "Naruto, if you truly wish to go through with this, you must be _absolutely _sure. No regrets, no doubts, no worrying. You must be completely committed, for the process is not easy. You must want to do this with everything in you. Think carefully before you do anything, much less cut your heart out."_

"_What happens when I do that?" Naruto asked, gulping. _

"_That part, I am unsure of," __Sen__ admitted. "My sensei could never describe it properly."_

_Naruto moved away from __Sen__ and rubbed again at his chest, at the spot over his heart. __" .__ . . how do I cut it out, though? There aren't any weapons here, how?"_

"_I don't know. Again, that was not something that sensei spoke of."_

"_Your sensei was a lot of help," Naruto snarled. _

_Sen__ stepped back and sighed. "I must leave now, Naruto."_

_A thought suddenly occurred to the young blonde. "Wait a sec! How do I know that I can trust you? How do I know you're not trying to hurt me?"_

_Sen__ frowned. "I can't lie to you, not here."_

"_Yeah, right," Naruto responded. _

"_No, I mean it. Your soul is very . . . unique. I could tell from the moment I saw you," __Sen__ said. "You've got unusual powers in you. Because of these powers, you would be able to tell if someone was lying to you here."_

_Naruto considered Sen. "Oh, yeah, prove it."_

_Sen__ rolled his eyes. __"Fine.__ Two plus two is five." On the last word, black smoke seemed to issue out of __Sen's__ mouth and Naruto felt his elbows tingle. "Can you tell? How about another one? Your hair is red." Again, the same thing happened when the last word was not true. _

_Naruto stared. "How does that work?"_

"_I'm not sure," __Sen__ admitted. "I can honestly say that I have never heard of or read about a soul that is quite like yours."_

_A thought occurred to Naruto. _Could it be because I am, uh, was, er, a Jinchuriki?

"_That is the only way that I have of proving myself. But I have spent too much time here already. Goodbye." With that, he turned around and a doorway appeared in front of him. He stepped through it and disappeared. Naruto stared blankly where he'd been. _

_Naruto sat down to think. _First question. Do I trust him? He said that I couldn't lie to him earlier. That there was something special about my soul. Then, there was the fact that I could tell when he lied for sure. But that could be a trick. How, though? How could he possibly trick me on the astral plane?

Besides, it wasn't just the black smoke. I could _feel _when he lied. Although heaven knows why my elbows of all things would tingle with a lie.

There's no way for him to fake that, that much I know.

So, he wasn't lying. It is true. The only way to achieve Death Meditation is to . . . yeah.

To find the world-changie Pandora's Box, I need my _Areah Broah. _To get my _Areah Broah, _I have to do Death Meditation. To do Death Meditation, I need to cut out my own heart. Can I really do that?

But why would I be doing it? For the possibility of destroying that thing? Can I really cut out my heart on the chance that I'll destroy the box-thing? Sen said that I needed to have everything in me behind it. It'll probably hurt like hell. Can I push through it just because I _might _destroy the device to set things back?

Can I?

_Naruto buried his face in his hands. _

I don't know what to do! I wish I had someone to talk to, Dad or Iruka-sensei. They'd help me figure this stuff out. Why do all of these choices have to fall on me? Huh? Why me?

_In a fit, Naruto grabbed up some sand and threw it away from him. _

Stupid sand.

Sand.

Gaara.

He's one of my best friends! And in this world, he doesn't exist! It's like he's dead. I'd do anything to save his life, even if there was just the slightest chance of it! So, that's it.

_Naruto stood up, eyes blazing. "I'm going to go into Death Meditation! I am."_

_He frowned, though, as he realized that he had no weapons on him. "How am I going to get around that problem? Also, I'll be completely vulnerable during this time. If some animal comes across me, it'll think I'm dead and it might try to eat me!" _

_Naruto grimaced. "I'll have to go back to the real world and secure myself somewhere, and I can figure out how to . . . uh, do this thing, without a weapon in here. Now, how did __Sen__ get out?"_

_Naruto frowned, remembering the door that had appeared for the other man. __"Hm. Astral plane!"__ He called out loudly. "Hey! I want a door back to the real world!" Naruto flapped his arms, while insisting that a door show up for him. He imagined a bright door that swung open for him. _

_And it came to him. Indeed, a door frame had shown up out of nowhere. Naruto stepped through it. _

-------------------------------------------

"_Okay, I made sure that my body will be safe," Naruto said, going through his mental checklist. After exiting the astral plane last night, Naruto had made sure to get a good night's sleep as well as a decent supper. In the morning, he'd set up traps and barricaded himself inside a small cave before returning to the astral plane. Now there, he continued his checklist. "And I think I've figured out a way to . . . ah, cut it out," Naruto gulped. _

This whole thing is still so creepy to me.

**Warning: this is gory. If you have a problem with blood or the like, skip it. **

_Naruto took a deep breath and knelt on the sand. He'd figured out that whatever he was wearing at the time came with him to the astral plane, so he'd made sure to grab his kunai before entering it. Last time, he'd come without anything but his clothes, having left his other stuff in a pile by the campsite. _

_Now, he stared at the kunai, blade sharp. Naruto took off his shirt and closed his eyes. _Think about Gaara and Temari and everyone else whose lives suck. If there's a chance that you can save them, you have to do it.

_Blood began to trickle down Naruto's chest as he made the first cuts, concentrating on where the human heart __was.These__ weren't too deep, and formed an oval shape over his heart, pointed at each end. Naruto placed the tip of the kunai at the top of the oval and angled it so that it would be stabbing towards the center. He took another deep breath, the last easy one he might have for a while and pushed the kunai in. _

"_Pull it down, now," Naruto gritted out. _

_His hand followed his instructions, dragging the blade through his flesh. He hissed at the pain, but repeated the process with the other side. Naruto gasped for breath, wishing he could take a break, but he knew that if he did, he wouldn't get up the gumption for this again. _

_Blood was now collecting in an ever-widening pool at his knees as Naruto reached up and felt into the wounds he'd made. _

"_Ngh__," he grunted. _Okay, how deep have I got it? _Naruto's fingertips reached the deepest part of the gashes and he stifled a cry of pain. Just beyond another layer of muscle, Naruto could feel the outline of his ribcage. He brought the kunai up again and pushed it deep into the opening, angling it towards the center. He pushed through the thin layer of flesh separating the two wounds and again, pulled down, severing it. _

"_AH!" Naruto fell forward, supporting himself with his hands as the chunk of muscle he'd carved out fell onto the ground. Blood was pouring out of him at an alarming rate. He gasped for breath and felt around in the giant cavity again. Now, there was no flesh separating his fingers from his bone. _

"_Okay," he gasped. "Here comes the hard part."_

_Naruto closed his eyes and worked his kunai behind a rib, gripping it on either end. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and pulled hard, snapping the bone in several places. Bits of rib fell into the puddle of blood and flesh. _

"_Argh__!"__ Naruto repeated the process with the other ribs that he could reach. _

_His vision swayed, black spots appearing in front of him. "I . . . have to . . . finish it . . . ah . . . quick," Naruto forced out, reminding himself to keep going. _

The next step is . . . god, this hurts . . . to cut . . . shit! . . . the lung. My heart's . . . under my . . . lung. After that, I'll only have . . . so much time.

_Naruto tightened his grip on the kunai. His heart was actually more under his breastbone, but he'd have to go through the lung. Since his sternum was too thick to be cut in a controlled manner with his kunai. "Once, start," he wheezed. __"Can't . . . stop."_

"_AARRGH!"__ Naruto doubled over in pain and began to hack up mouthfuls of blood, but he couldn't stop. _

Come this . . . ah! far. Can't stop! No!

_As his right hand guided the kunai, Naruto's left hand followed __it's__ progress. Very quickly, his fingers discovered something with a different texture. _That's it. The heart's . . . covering. _Naruto began to cough up more blood. "Not . . . much __time__."_

_Naruto reached deeper in, wrapping his left hand securely around his heart. His vision was fading rapidly, black encroaching on the sides. He could barely feel the pain anymore. He was going terrifyingly cold and numb. _

_The kunai in his right hand made some quick cuts. Naruto didn't have the strength to cry out anymore. _

_With the last of his consciousness, Naruto ripped his left hand and his heart straight out of his chest. He stared at the still-pulsating organ in his hand and coughed up some blood. _

"_Ha." He whispered. "I . . . did . . ." _

_The blackness that had been stealing his vision finally won the battle and Naruto fell into it. _

_**Okay, if you skipped the blood, you can read again.**_

_----------------------------------_

Naruto opened his eyes. He was in a room, with walls of every color, brilliantly bright. Azure, crimson, violet, orange, the most vivid shades imaginable swirled in patterns around him, moving, shifting changing. In front of him, there was a pedestal or an extremely tall table and on it, Naruto could see a map of sorts. He looked around and saw multiple doors and hallways leading away from what was apparently a central hub.

"I achieved it," he noted. "Death Meditation. Now, to find the _Areah Broah."_He bent down and inspected the map, looking diligently for a clue as to where his spirit energy could be. Finally, he found it, in a room a little distance from where he was.

"Excellent," Naruto commented. "So, this is what Sen meant," Naruto observed as he began to walk to the room with his _Areah Broah. _"Normally, I would be jumping for joy and get quite distracted by the mere success of it. But now, with my mind apart from everything else, I can think clearly."

Naruto made a few swift turns, noting some interesting doors. He arrived quickly at his destination. "_Areah Broah. _My spirit energy. GG will be pleased that I found it," Naruto murmured. He reached out and grabbed the handle, turning it.

The door opened to a calm, blue-green ocean. "Wow. I have a lot of _Areah Broah,_" Naruto murmured.

He knelt down outside the door and put his hand into the sea of spirit energy. The sea became active, moving and cresting, the waves higher than before. Naruto closed his eyes and memorized the feel of the _Areah Broah. _It felt very close to chakra, but Naruto could tell the difference. The _Areah Broah _felt softer, smoother in his hands than chakra, the difference between cotton and silk.

"I have it now," Naruto stated. He rose, removing his hand from the sea of spirit energy. "I suppose it makes sense," Naruto said. "My chakra is a well and my _Areah Broah _is a sea. Now, how do I get back to my body?"

Naruto hurried back to the central hub where he'd first appeared. "I could stay and explore, but my body is still quite vulnerable and I do not know how much time has passed. I need to get back to my body and then back into the valley. Time is of the essence," Naruto told himself.

He turned his attention back to the map and inspected it once again, looking for a way back to his body, or at least back to the astral plane. "Ah. There it is."

Naruto stood and walked down the hallways again, this time, straight to the door which would take him back to the astral plane. Naruto opened it and stepped through.

---------------------------------

_Naruto lay sprawled out on the sand. He could still see the blood, chunks of flesh and bits of bone and lung, but he could also feel his heart beat steadily, in his chest. _

_He coughed hard and passed out._


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

He was lying in a soft, warm bed, chest rising and falling steadily. His face was a picture of perfect contentment.

No, wait.

His nose and lips twitched, as if he was annoyed with something.

Then, his brow furrowed slightly. The blonde turned his head away from the nightstand, snuggling deep into the pillows. Then he threw his arm over his head, covering his ear.

When that didn't work, the boy opened his mouth and tried to say something, but it only came out as a moan. "Staaa . . ."

Still, he was bothered. About what, it couldn't be sure. Eventually, the teen opened his eyes a slit. Sleepy, annoyed blue peered out of that crack. Slowly, the eyes scanned the area, then he rolled over and focused on the nightstand, or rather, on the ticking clock on the nightstand.

He mumbled the words, "I hate you."

A big hand reached out and shoved the clock off the nightstand, sending it flying across the room. It landed with a crash but was silent afterwards.

Satisfied that the clock would stop ticking, the boy rolled back over to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be.

"Naruto?" Two hands grabbed his shoulders. Naruto blinked his eyes open drearily and stared at the decidedly worried face of his sister.

"Huh?"

Tama burst into tears and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his shirt. "You idiot! You scared me! Us! Everyone! I couldn't find you! I couldn't feel you! I was scared!"

Naruto blinked, but instinctively wrapped his arms around his sister. "Tama? What? What's wrong?"

She pulled back. "You idiot!" She punched him. "What's wrong is that somehow or another, you nearly died!" She hugged him again.

"Huh?"

At that moment, however, the door opened, revealing the rest of his family. His mother let out a strangled cry and threw herself forward, wrapping Naruto in a hug. Between Tama and Meara and their hair, he couldn't exactly see anything else.

After a few minutes, the two females backed off and let the other members of his family in to see him. Raidon and Kenji both climbed up onto the bed, Raidon instantly burrowing his face into Naruto's chest, Kenji content to trace patterns on Naruto's blanket-covered leg. Minato stepped forward and dragged him into a painfully tight, one-armed hug for a moment. GG just stood at the end of the bed, eyes piercing.

Naruto stared around at his family. "Uh, what happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, son," Minato replied. He was now holding Meara, who was clutching his arm for stability.

"I mean," Naruto said. "How did I get back here? The last thing I remember, I was in the mountains, trying to access my _Areah Broah._"

Tama punched his shoulder again. "Yes, but _how_ were you trying to get to it? I couldn't feel you."

"Feel me?" _What is she talking about? _

Tama wiped at her eyes and nodded. "You know, through, our connection." Naruto stared blankly at her. She smacked him. "Because we're twins, you know."

Something clicked. "You! You were the one calling me on the astral plane! I didn't imagine it!"

"You heard me and didn't answer! Jerk!" She slammed her fist into his shoulder, then buried her face in it and cried some more.

_Ooookay__ Girls are weird. _"I'm still confused," Naruto complained. "How did I get back here and why are you all acting like I've come back from the dead?"

Tama sniffed and snuggled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his chest. "About two days after GG left you out in the mountains—" At this she raised her head and shot a glare at him. "—I felt you moving farther away from me. I tried calling you, but you didn't answer and I got worried. After a little while, though, you came back, so I wasn't too worried. But, then—" She broke off and resumed crying on his shoulder.

Meara stepped forward and stroked his hair back. "The next day, she came to us and said you'd left again, to the same place as before. We were worried, but hoped you'd come back quickly, the same as the day before."

She took a steadying breath and Naruto saw the lines around her mouth tighten. "Then, she suddenly collapsed, saying she felt really cold and there were sharp pains in her chest. I couldn't find anything physically wrong with her, and she said you were moving farther away, farther than before. The pains got worse until she said she couldn't feel you at all and then she passed out."

She stopped speaking, instead leaning in and planting a kiss on Naruto's forehead, continuing to stroke a hand through his hair.

Minato took up the story, his voice slightly hoarse. "From what Tama had said, it sounded like you were in danger, so GG and I went out to find you. We found you in a cave, surrounded by traps and barricaded in a cave. You—" Minato's voice broke and he had to clear his throat before continuing. When he did, he'd shifted into emotionless shinobi mode. "We couldn't detect a pulse and you didn't appear to be breathing. For about fifteen minutes after we located you, you appeared to be dead. At that time, your heart seemed to restart or pick up the pace and your breathing returned, although you were still unconscious. We brought you back here and put you in this bed, where you've been for three days."

Naruto started. "Th-three _days?_"

"Yes," GG growled. "Three days." He glared at Naruto, who got the distinct impression that GG knew exactly what had happened in the astral plane.

_I have a feeling that I will be in serious trouble. _

"I didn't know," Naruto murmured, tightening his arm around Tama. "I'm sorry, but I'm fine now. You don't have to worry anymore."

She sniffed and pulled away, wiping her eyes and nose on Naruto's already-stained shirt one last time. "You just really scared me, Nii-san. Don't do it again."

Naruto smiled and squeezed her hand. "Never on purpose," he promised. _That's the best that I can offer. _

Minato cleared his throat again. "Could I have a moment alone with him before I need to head back?"

"Head back?" Naruto wondered. "What do you mean, head back?" The rest of the family nodded and Tama slowly detached herself and walked out, still sniffling.

Minato closed the door behind them.

"Dad?" Naruto asked. "Are you heading back to Konoha?"

"Yeah," Minato sighed. "I got a message late last night that I was needed back, but I managed to delay it a couple of hours until you woke up." He reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair.

"You just keep doing this, don't you, Naruto?" Minato asked, sighing.

Naruto frowned. "Doing what?"

"Getting yourself almost killed," Minato answered.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry. I don't mean to."

"I know," his father replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Listen, next time you get yourself into a situation like that, use this." Minato held up a funny-looking kunai.

Naruto took the kunai and inspected it. It had the loop on the end, like most kunai, but the blade was shorter than most kunai and three-pronged. The teen stared at the yellow seal on the long handle of the weapon.

"What's this for?" he wondered, twirling it around.

Minato chuckled. "You'll see, just be careful when you use it, it's a special kunai, alright?"

Naruto nodded. "Got it." He placed the odd kunai on the table next to his bed. "So, do you know what's wrong with the village that they need you back?"

"I've been getting messages from the village every day so I could keep an eye on things, and a certain situation reached a level that I need to attend to immediately," Minato replied, standing. "I can't tell you more than that."

"How have you been getting messages?" Naruto wondered. _Can messenger birds come into the valley or does the keeping-people-out __spell only apply__ to, uh, people? _

"Actually, it's an experimental procedure that we just had the chance to test out," Minato answered.

He reached into a pocket of his ninja vest and pulled out a scroll. "This is a special scroll and someone back home in Konoha has one just like it. I write something on it." He did, scribbling out the words that Naruto was alright.

"Then you do a jutsu and that sends the message to the other scroll," Minato explained, hands flashing in a quick series of seals. The writing on the scroll glowed for a second, then disappeared. Naruto stared in amazement.

"Like I said, it was just developed. So far, it's been working great," Minato beamed. He grinned down at the scroll for a minute before wrapping it back up and stuffing it in a pocket. "So, I have to go back. Be careful and remember to use that kunai if you're ever in trouble, okay?"

Naruto nodded. Minato looked to the door, then leaned forward and gave Naruto a quick, bone-crushing hug. "I—stay safe," he whispered, then left.

The teen gasped, trying to get back the breath his father's hug had forced out. "Bye," he wheezed. _Jeez, he freaks out a lot, doesn't __he._

After his father left, Raidon was the first to scamper back in, climbing up on the bed and sitting on Naruto. "Hey!"

Naruto grinned. "Hey, you're not bored, are ya?"

Raidon shook his head. "Nope. I've been 'keeping busy', as Mommy says," he chirped, inserting the the finger quotation marks.

"Well?" Naruto asked. "With what?"

The little boy opened his mouth, but GG opened the door and interrupted. "Raidon, I need to speak with Naruto for a minute, could you leave?"

"But I'm speaking with him, GG!" Raidon pouted.

GG pounded his cane on the floor. "This is important, Raidon. You can see Naruto later."

With a grumble, the boy picked himself up off the bed and stomped out, sticking his tongue out at GG at the last minute before slamming the door. Once he was gone, Naruto found his bedsheets _very _interesting as the old man focused all of his attention on him. He picked some imaginary lint off the sheets and counted the fibers.

"I've had time to think about it since we got you back," GG began. "And I recognize the signs of Death Meditation. The question is, where did you learn it and why did you use such a dangerous technique?"

Naruto sighed. _Well, he's figured it out. __Might as well tell him._"I read about it in a book. The book said that the original mage, Churaeah Horae, discovered his _Areah Broah_ that way. I figured that was my best quick shot, so I went for it."

GG stood up, stepped over to Naruto and whapped him hard on the head. "_You Damn Fool!" _He accented each word with another knock to the head. "That was probably the most dangerous thing I can think of you doing at this point!"

Naruto blocked his blows and responded. "Look, I understand better than you how damn dangerous that was, but I did it and it's no use berating me, cause there's no way I'm doing it again. So," he snapped. "Why don't you just move on and tell me how to find that device thing!"

GG snorted and walked away. "First, prove to me that you have accessed you _Areah Broah,_" he demanded.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He closed his eyes and searched inside himself. _Well, there's my chakra. __Now, my _Areah Broah. _Ah, there! Found it! _Naruto summoned it up in the same manner he summoned large amounts of chakra, so that green energy swirled around him. He opened his eyes and looked at GG as if to say "How's that?"

"Well, you accessed it, that's for sure," GG acknowledged.

Naruto grinned. "So, what's the next step?"

"Teaching you to control it," GG answered. "But that we will begin tomorrow. For now, you must rest. Entering Death Meditation puts a great strain on your body and soul. Heal yourself. I'll send your brothers and sister in now."

He went to the door. "One more thing. Have you decided for sure yet? Or is all of this training still 'in case'?"

Naruto didn't answer the question, knowing he'd been asking himself the same thing. He didn't have time to ponder it, though, because as soon as GG left, Raidon bounded into the room and latched himself onto Naruto again.

----------------------------------------------

Naruto sighed heavily. "Please don't tell me that I'll have to climb the side of the rock face without using my hands."

"Without hands?" GG asked, startled. "Hell, no, that's damn dangerous. Where'd you get that hare-brained idea?"

"We did it for chakra training," Naruto answered. _That's a relief. I had such a headache. _

"Training? Tch. Dumb ninjas," GG muttered, shaking his gray head. "No, this will be unlike shinobi training. Follow me."

Naruto trailed the old man. _I wonder what we're going to be doing. I hope it's nothing like getting the spirit energy. But, based on how he reacted, I don't think that's likely. _

Finally, they arrived at a set of large doors. "Are you ready?" GG asked, eyes direct and piercing again.

Naruto nodded.

GG pushed the doors open and Naruto stepped inside a large room. The floor and walls were a brilliant shade of red and there were holes in the high ceiling. Naruto frowned and looked around. _What is the purpose of this room? _

"While this exercise will not be as dangerous as your chakra training, it will probably be more painful," GG began.

_Less dangerous, but more painful?__ How does that happen? _

"This floor is soft," GG explained. "It will cushion your fall if, indeed you do fall."

_Oooh__ It is soft. _He jumped up and down, laughing delightedly when he discovered that it was bouncy as well.

"Pay attention, boy," GG snapped. He said a command word and from the holes in the ceiling, poles began to descend. They stopped about ten feet above the floor. "It is impossible to hold onto those poles with your bare hands. You also cannot use your chakra to cling to them. You must use your _Areah Broah _to grab hold and stay up."

Naruto grinned. "Well, that doesn't sound so hard."

"I'm not done," GG chuckled. "The amount of spirit energy needed for each pole is different and if you manage to hold onto one for more than thirty seconds, the pole's energy will begin to fluctuate."

Naruto nodded. "What happens if I fall?"

"Once I leave, I will activate a network in the floors and walls that will prevent you from staying on the floor for more than three seconds. The network will activate the pain receptors in whatever body part touches it. It won't do any damage, but it will sting something fierce," GG warned.

_Aw, hell. This sounds worse than chakra training. __Like walking on water times a thousand over boiling hot springs.__Great.__ He's more of a sadist than the closet __perv_He cleared his throat. "Ah, how will you know when I'm done?"

GG smirked. "I'll know, don't worry. Get ready, and remember your chakra won't work." He turned to leave, stomping out slowly. The doors began to close behind him.

Naruto nodded again, already feeling various parts of his body stinging. He closed his eyes and summoned his _Areah Broah. _Once he had a good hold on it, he jumped up and grabbed for one of the poles. Naruto shoved his energy into the pole.

_Crap! Too much! _Naruto desperately tried to find the right amount, but the pole began retracting into the ceiling and he slid down it. As soon as his butt hit the red floor, little jabs of pain went up it. Naruto hissed and launched himself toward another pole.

This time, he didn't use enough.

"Ahhh!"

Too much, again.

"Ohh, that burns!"

Almost there, but not quite.

"Crap!"

_This is impossible. I can't find the right amount before the pole retracts or I fall off. Augh! __Damnit__! It gets more painful every time I hit the floor._

_I wonder__ if there's a way I can figure out how—ooh! __ow__!—much _Areah Broah _I'll need before I get to the pole so that I can get a better grip. _

Concentrating, Naruto tried sending out a wave of spirit energy much like he'd done with the chakra pulse ages ago. He felt some of the energy come back to him. _There! Got it! _Naruto modulated his _Areah Broah _and grabbed the pole. And began sliding.

"What! But I found the right amount! Yeoooow!"

_Why didn't that work? __Argh_Naruto tried again, finding the rebound of the chakra. And again, he landed hard on the floor.

_Wait, _he thought as he leaped again. _I've got it, don't I? I know how much bounces back! So, I need to figure out the . . . difference. __Great.__Easy as pie._

After about fifteen tries and failures, Naruto finally managed to cling to the pole without sliding down. "Wooohoooo! Yeah! I did it! I did it!" As his concentration slipped, so did his grip and he went falling back to the zap-happy floor.

"Aww, ma—OW!"

Eventually, Naruto was able to hold onto the poles without losing his concentration. "Finally! Okay, well, now what?" Naruto wondered. The blonde found out in about thirty seconds, when the energy in the pole began to fluctuate.

"Huh?"

He fell. Again. "Damnit!"

Clinging to the pole again, Naruto seethed. "Oh, yeah, the energy will begin to fluctuate if you hold on too long. Fun," he snapped sarcastically.

_Okay, I need to keep in time with the pole's energy so I don't keep falling. Judging from the last time, I've got about a second to alter my energy before I fall and it retracts. Five seconds. _

Naruto closed his eyes and focused completely on the pole. _Okay, here we go. _

He managed about ten seconds.

"I'm gonna kill the old man! Ah!"

-----------------------------------------------

The doors opened and GG stepped in, deactivating the network in the floors. "I see you finally managed it."

From his position on the pole, Naruto grinned. "Yup. I always knew I would. How'd I do?"

"Considering it took you," he checked his watch. "Five hours, not bad. Come on down now."

Naruto eyed the red floor with distaste, having a _lot _of bad memories concerning it. "Come on, boy," GG snapped. "You've already wasted enough time. It won't hurt you again."

"I have a right to be wary of it, considering it zapped me about five hundred times," Naruto shot back.

"Just get down here," GG groaned.

Sighing, Naruto jumped down. "So," he chirped. "How did you know when I was done?"

"When you could exactly match each fluctuation in less than one second for ten complete minutes," GG responded. "Now, it's about time for you to have lunch, you've been up there since nine this morning."

Naruto's stomach rumbled loudly and he grinned broadly. "That's your best idea yet, old man!"

GG led Naruto to a small stand outside in the open-air market. Naruto sat down as GG ordered something for the pair in Churaeah. He came back. "So, you should have some idea of how to control your _Areah Broah, _now?"

"Some idea?" Naruto frowned. "I have a darn good idea." The food arrived and Naruto began stuffing it into his mouth. _Oh, this is good. What is this, some kind of fish? What's the green stuff, vegetables? Oh, well, it's still darn good._

"For a novice," GG acknowledged. "Your control is decent. Of course, it could always be worked on." He placed some of the food into his mouth.

Naruto polished off his food with a smack of the lips and raised his plate for seconds. "Okay, what's the next step?"

"Did you eat or inhale your food?" GG wondered, staring at Naruto's empty plate. "Anyway, next, I must teach you some basic tracking spells so that you can find the device. Then, something to destroy it."

"So, regular methods won't work against this thing?" Naruto asked. "Like, smashing it with a rock?"

GG rolled his eyes as he chewed. After swallowing, he answered, "No, boy. You must destroy it with _Areah Broah. _Again, regular chakra isn't enough. If you could access the demon's chakra, it might work, but you can't use it, so that's moot. You'll need to come up with something based off spirit energy to destroy this device."

Naruto frowned, asking for thirds. "So, I'd need a pure _Areah Broah _attack, right?"

GG nodded. "That's about right. Something to destroy the energy of this device."

"Hey, GG. The book I read that told me about Death Meditation said that ninjas who were trained in really good chakra control couldn't use spirit energy spells," Naruto said.

"That's right," GG affirmed. "Those without _Areah Broah _cannot use spells based on it. Why do you ask?"

Naruto chewed his lip. "Well, does it work the other way?"

GG frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, say I have something that is based off of chakra. Can I change it to use _Areah Broah?" _

The old man considered it while Naruto worked his way through another plateful. "I don't see why not. Since you have spirit energy, you can use it in any way you see fit. That would include replacing it with chakra."

"Okay," Naruto thought this through. "Can _Areah Broah _be element-based?"

GG sighed. "Look, when someone has chakra and _Areah Broah, _whatever can be done with chakra can be done with _Areah Broah, _okay?"

"I have a technique that might work," Naruto mused.

"Really?" GG asked. "You'll need to show me after we finish here."

"'Kay," Naruto agreed, licking the remnants of his fourth helping off the plate.

"Naruto, stop that."

He froze with his tongue on the plate, then put it down with a sigh.

A few minutes later, GG stood and returned the plates to the stand, forking over some money with a small smile. "Stand up, Naruto," he commanded.

Naruto sighed. "Alright."

The pair traveled to a small training field behind the big building. "Now, show me that technique that you were talking about."

Naruto nodded and created a shadow clone. He formed the Rasengan in his right hand, controlling it as the clone began to add the wind element. He was almost to the point where he didn't need the clone and it would be all him manipulating the chakra.

"Rasengan: Wind Shuriken!" Naruto shouted, holding the chakra weapon above his head. He held it for a minute then dispersed it, assuming that GG had seen enough.

"Well?" Naruto asked, panting slightly. "What do you think? If I modify it for _Areah Broah_, will it do the job?"

GG frowned in contemplation. "What happens when you use it on something?"

"When I used it against Kakuzu," Naruto began. "Tsunade said that it acted more like a poison than a blade. Something about millions of tiny chakra needles that severed the chakra tubes to each cell. The only problem is, when I use apply it on a person, it seriously injures my arm. I need Kyuubi's influence to heal."

"Really." GG scratched his chin, digesting this information. "I do believe that it would work, if you used _Areah Broah _instead of chakra. As for the arm, well, if you decide to leave the world as it is, you won't use the jutsu. If you change it, you'll have the demon back to heal your arm in the other world, so that's not an issue."

Naruto grinned. "Great, one less thing to worry about. Now, teach me some tracking spells!"


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Naruto peeked over the edge of the balcony down to the market where vendors were closing their shops for the day. Bright canvases were being folded and put away, goods were being stocked safely for the next day's sales and carts were being drawn away to come out with the sun tomorrow. In the fields to the west, sheep were being herded back into their pens and tools of various sizes were being cleaned and stowed away.

Naruto sighed at the picturesque sight. "It's like watching Konoha at sunset," he murmured.

"Since when do you do that?" Tama asked, coming up behind him.

"Just every once in a while," he answered. "When I need to think."

Tama giggled. "You sound like Dad. Did he tell you why he left?"

"No," Naruto sighed. "He just said it was urgent business."

"Every time we are here, he gets called away," Tama complained. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Last time?" Naruto asked. _No, I wouldn't remember, would I? This is my first time here. _He felt a small pang in his heart as he thought that.

Tama nodded and leaned over the rail with him. "Yes, remember? We were only here for a couple of days and then Dad got called back with something terribly urgent. I found out later what it was about. Are you sure you don't remember?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "My head is full of spells and mage-y stuff. Remind me?"

"It was when we were seven. I only found out because we were playing hide-and-seek and I had hid next to a heat vent that happened to connect to Dad's office and I overheard the whole thing. There was this ninja, an ANBU, who'd been on a few too many assassination missions. On the last one, he was unable to save his teammates and they all died terrible deaths. He made it back to the village, mission successful, but severely injured. He stayed in the hospital for several days, but didn't sleep during that time," Tama sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes.

"He just kept running the mission over and over in his mind. He started to get paranoid, seeing enemies in every shadow, behind every corner. He tried to escape from the hospital several times, thinking it was an enemy base, but was dragged back in. He eventually completely lost his mind and got out again, this time killing anyone and everyone in his way. He went on a rampage outside the hospital, too. Killed lots of people. Dad said it took five ANBU to stop him."

Naruto closed his eyes. "How many people ended up dying?"

"I don't know," she admitted, her voice very sad. "But Dad said the death toll was as if someone had killed the whole Uchiha clan."

_. . . you've__ got to be kidding me. _

Tama sighed and stood up. "I'm going inside. Raidon can always cheer me up. That was damn depressing." She wandered back in.

Slowly, the sun went down. Naruto stayed outside, staring into the middle distance.

_I suppose I do have to think about that kind of thing. The rest of the world seems just the same as my world. I guess I need to find out about Konoha._

"_It was the same as the Uchiha clan being killed." Well, in the old world, the Uchiha clan _was _killed. It was the same number of people and it was the same time frame. __All those people, killed by a psycho.__Hunh__ Just like with the Uchiha massacre, too. _

Naruto banged his head on the railing, then rubbed it as his forehead throbbed. _I suppose that cancels out the fact that all of the Uchihas are alive in this world. Damn. What other tragedies have come on Konoha?_

_The Kyuubi attack._

_That's a big one. A bunch of people died there. But, nothing like that happened in this world. If it had, surely people would have talked about it a lot. __Right?_

_No, _he thought, biting his lower lip. _People don't talk about the Kyuubi attack a lot in the old world, and this is the first time I've heard of this tragedy. So I can't assume that something equivalent didn't happen here._

All but growling in frustration, Naruto laid his head on the cool stone of the balcony._ Damn. I really need to talk to somebody about that._

"_Grruuuuumble__."_

Naruto straightened and glared at his loud stomach. "Hey! I'm trying to think here. Do you think you could not interrupt?"

"_Gruumble-ruuuumble__."_

The blonde stuck his tongue out at his grumbling tummy and folded his arms. "Fine. I'll feed you, but after that, you had better be quiet and let me think."

Pouting, Naruto stomped back inside and threw himself down at the table, folding his arms and putting his head in them. "Hey, Mom," he called, his voice muffled. "What's for supper?"

Meara turned around and raised an eyebrow. "That would be leftovers," she answered. "We're going home tomorrow, so we should clear out the refrigerator in this house. It's for the family of the clan head, so it's only in use when we visit. Here, could you chop these vegetables for me?"

Naruto nodded and drew the vegetables, specifically leeks, celery, carrots and peppers closer to him. "So, what else do we have here?" The pout was slowly fading off his face, all cranky thoughts vanishing at the thought of eating his mother's cooking.

"Some chicken, a little bit of beef," Meara answered, pulling out each item as she named it. "Tons of rice and some noodles. Now, what to do with all of this?"

"We should make rice balls," Naruto chirped, slicing the carrots into paper-thin segments. Any hint of a pout, frown or other unhappy expression had been wiped from his face by the food. _Mom can make any food taste good, even veggies and fruits._

Meara pulled out the rice cooker. "That's a good idea. I'm also thinking vegetable stew, so don't cut the carrots _quite _so thin, okay?"

With a small sigh, Naruto chopped them thicker. "What about the meat and chicken? And the noodles?"

"Hmm." Meara stared consideringly at the ingredients.

"I know!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands. "It will be a meat and vegetable stew, with the beef thrown in there. And, we have the right stuff to make a sauce, so I'll cook the chicken and the noodles and we'll have them with some yummy sauce."

Naruto nodded. "Sounds good. Why are we going home tomorrow?"

"Well, we were only going to stay here a week anyway," she answered, pulling out pans and some random spices.

"It hasn't been a week, has it?" Naruto asked, cutting peppers into fun shapes, like the faces of the Hokages.

"You were in a coma for three days, remember?" she asked. "The first day was when we figured out what was wrong with you. Then, you spent three days in the mountains. Then you spent three days in a coma, then two more training with GG. Technically, we should have left two days ago, but Grandpa said that he wanted to teach you some basic spells and such."

She moved to chop chicken up and throw it into a simmering pan. "By the way, how did it go?"

Naruto shrugged. "It went pretty well," he replied. _It was complete torture!_

"Yeah, I had a feeling it might," Meara said. "Grandpa said that you had an unusual talent for spells and such, even more so than myself. What did he teach you?"

"I learned a lot about controlling my _Areah Broah. _He also taught me some basic spells, about five or six of them," Naruto answered.

"I know some combat spells and a lot of healing spells, if you'd like me to teach you those," Meara offered.

"Really? That would be great!" Naruto grinned. An idea struck him and he leaned over and grabbed a few of the vegetables he'd cut into letters. Arranging them, he leaned back.

"Hey, Mom, look!"

Meara turned around and looked at what he'd spelled out with the food. '_Thanks. I love you.' _She chuckled. "You know you used to do that when you were a kid."

"I did?" Naruto asked, eyebrows raised.

She nodded and began to play with the letters as well. "Yeah, you know those soups that have the little noodle letters in them? Well, when you were a little kid and your father and I were trying to teach you to read, we bought those a lot. We seemed to think that if you ate the language, you would understand it better."

"Whose idea was that?" Naruto wondered.

"Well, mostly mine," she admitted. "But once you'd learned to spell the basic words, you would take the biggest delight in spelling out words in your soup. Little messages to me."

Naruto blushed a little. "I did?"

"Mm-hm. You'd always spell out 'thank you' or 'hi mommy' or, your favorite, 'i love you mommy.'" She finished with the vegetables.

"And I'd always reply with this," she finished, going back to her chicken.

Naruto leaned forward to what she'd written. _'I love you too __saru_"Saru?" he asked. _Is that some relation to __Sarutobi_

"You don't remember that?" she asked, shocked.

Naruto shook his head. "No, what does it mean?"

"It means 'monkey,'" she answered. "I started calling you that because you'd always climb out of your crib when you were a little baby. Then, when you were older, you'd climb up the walls, over the fence, up a tree, anywhere you could climb, you would. Plus, it rhymed with the first two syllables of your name. When did I stop calling you that?"

Meara began to form the cooked rice into little balls and set them on a plate. "Oh, that's right, when you graduated the Academy, you said that was too childish and said that you didn't want me to call you that."

Naruto detected the note of almost-sadness. He got up and wrapped his arms around his mother. "It sounds like I was the childish one. You can call me that whenever you want," he assured.

She turned around and returned the hug. "You are too sweet, Saru. Now, I need to cook, so let me go."

"Okay," Naruto replied, pecking her cheek. He sat back down and finished chopping the leeks, bringing all sliced and diced vegetables to the large pot sitting on the stove. "Here ya go!"

Kenji wandered in. "Hey, Naruto, wanna play shogi after dinner?"

"Sure, you'll be an easier opponent than Shikamaru, I bet!"

------------------------------------

"I win. Again."

"Damn! You're just as bad as Shika. I hate you." Naruto spun away from the traitorous board.

Kenji sighed. "You just need to work on your strategy. Try thinking several moves ahead, instead of moving random pieces. Come on, play again."

Naruto sighed heavily. "Fine, I'll let you win again."

He turned around and they reset the board. "You still wanna be black?" he asked.

Kenji shrugged. "We're already on these sides, so nah."

Meara came into the room. "Hey, come on, guys. You need to get packing, now. We're leaving tomorrow."

"We'll do it after this game," Kenji muttered.

"No. You'll do it now. If you wait until the game is over, it'll be too late and I want you two to bed at a reasonable time. Pack and then get ready for bed, okay?"

"Do we have to?" Naruto whined.

"Yes."

Grumbling, the brothers stood up and went to their respective rooms. Naruto threw his clothes into his bag, not bothering to fold them. He stuffed his dirty clothes into a separate, small bag and stuffed that into his larger bag. He finished throwing the rest of his stuff in his bag and sighed.

"Well, that took a really long time," he muttered.

Naruto was half-asleep when a knock sounded at his door. "Huh? Go away, I'm trying to sleep."

"I need to talk to you before you go," GG called through the door.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Come in."

GG pushed open the door and stepped into the room, eyeing the half-packed bag with something akin to disdain. "Since, I won't be able to train you on a regular basis, I brought you some things so that you can continue to train."

GG dropped a sack on his bed. "In there, you'll find some scrolls with more spells on them, as well as a history of the clan, and some books on the language, so you can understand what you're saying."

"Oh, thanks," Naruto said, dragging the knapsack toward him. "Man, I have to carry this home? This is heavy. Couldn't you have picked something lighter?"

"Be grateful I'm giving you these, Naruto," GG snapped. "Now, it's late. Just take this stuff home and study it. You need your rest for tomorrow."

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" Naruto asked, closing up the bag and dropping it next to his first bag.

GG pulled the door open. "Do you remember how tired you were when you got here?"

"Uh, yeah."

"That's why."

--------------------------------------------------

Naruto yawned and scrubbed at the floor again. "Why do we have to clean this place?"

"We don't know when we're coming back," his mother answered, doing the dishes again. "We don't want to leave it dirty and have an infestation or mold growing when we come back."

Naruto sighed, wringing out the sponge he was using. "Do you think there's a floor-scrubbing jutsu?"

"No, just keep working. But I'll see if I can get someone in here to help you. Many hands make light work, after all," she quoted.

The lightbulb on top of Naruto's head dinged on. "Many hands?"

"Yeah, but there's just the five of us, so—"

Naruto grinned and threw the sponge down. "Not for long. You just relax, Mom."

He put his hands into the seal of the ram and shouted. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A dozen Narutos now crowded into the kitchen. Meara coughed and waved her hand in front of to clear smoke from their appearance. The original jumped up and shot a grin to his clones, teeth sparkling to rival Gai on the most youthful day.

"Okay, listen up! We need to get this place squeaky clean, so we can go home! Get working, now!"

"Yes, sir!" The twelve clones all ran to different rooms of the house, sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing, polishing and dusting. Cries of surprise could be heard from Tama and Raidon as multiple Narutos ran into the rooms they were working in and started to help them. Kenji just muttered something about idiotic older brothers.

"Impressive," Meara acknowledged

One of the clones picked her up and set her aside, grinning. "I'll do the dishes!" _I guess it's a good thing that I had Tama teach me how to do dishes, _thought both the clone and the original Naruto at the same time.

"Yep." Original Naruto put his hands behind his head and grinned, eyes curved into upside-down U's. "I'll go supervise them." He turned to go to another room, but happened to forget that he had been cleaning the floor with soapy water just a minute ago.

"Aaah!"

_Thud._

"Ow!"

Meara spun around and bit her lip to keep from laughing. The clone doing the dishes, and all of the other clones, however did laugh.

Kenji poked his head in and rolled his eyes. "Some ninja you are."

Raidon poke his head in, too. "Naruto! Are you okay?"

Cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red, Naruto grabbed the sponge and began to clean the floor again. "I'm fine." Actually, he'd rolled his ankle and it was now throbbing, but he wasn't about to admit that.

"Are you sure?" Meara asked, crouching next to him. "That was a pretty hard fall."

She turned a laugh into a cough and covered her mouth. Naruto glared at her. _I might as well tell her. I'd rather not walk all the way home with an injured ankle. _He sighed. "I rolled my left ankle."

His mother dropped a towel over the wet floor and knelt next to him. She gently lifted it and began to prod and inspect. Naruto hissed.

"It looks like a mild sprain," she commented. "Normally, I'd let it heal on its own, but we need to get home soon, so I'll heal it here."

Meara did a few handsigns and held her glowing green hands over his ankle. Naruto stared.

"Since when do you know medical ninjutsu?" he wondered.

"When I was down visiting in the village, before your father and I were married, I would often talk with Tsunade, since we were both healers. She taught me some ninjutsu and I tried to teach her about spells," Meara chuckled. "She couldn't get the hang of it, so I just gave her some excellent information about herbs and the like that she didn't know. There. All done."

Naruto looked down at his ankle. "Wow. That was fast. You're awesome, Mom."

"Yes, I know. Keep cleaning."

An hour later, Naruto, Tama, Kenji and Raidon were standing in the living room by the door. Their bags were packed and on their shoulders, the house was sparkling, literally, and they were ready to go. Well, almost. Meara was doing a final once-over of the house.

"So, is it gonna take us as long to get back as it did to get here?" Naruto wondered.

"Yeah, probably," Kenji answered. "If not longer."

"Aw, man," Naruto whined. He shifted the heavy pack of scrolls and books, trying to find a better position for it. "How are we gonna get out of the mountains? We got in cause of the spells and stuff."

"Oh, there are markers that have been set up to lead the way," Meara replied, going through each room to make sure that they hadn't left anything behind.

Naruto sighed and stood waiting with his siblings. Meara went through the house again, checking under furniture and in cabinets. Then she did it again.

"Mom," Tama called. "You've been through the house five times now, not to mention the cleaning we did."

Meara came back into the living room and sighed, "I guess you're right. Funny. Twenty years I couldn't wait to get out and now, I don't want to leave. Come on. Let's go say our goodbyes."

_Couldn't wait to get out? What does that mean? _But Naruto didn't have time to ask her as they were surrounded by villagers the instant they left the house. Naruto smiled and hugged people, most of whom he didn't actually know, and slowly, the family made their way to the place they'd come in. During the mini-voyage there, Naruto was handed everything from loafs of bread to unprocessed wool. He smiled and accepted each gift, stuffing them in a large bag, which was also a gift.

_I'm gonna be a hunchback by the time we get home._

Right by the gaping hole in the rock stood GG, cane in hand, scowl in place. Tearing up, Meara ran forward and gave him a huge hug. She whispered something in the Churaeah language to him and stepped back.

Raidon sprinted forward next and wrapped himself around GG's legs. "I'm gonna miss you, GG!" he cried, earning an "Awwww" from the crowd.

Kenji moved to the old man more slowly and embraced him a little more gently, mindful of his old age. Finally, Tama encircled him and smiled sadly. "We'll come back soon and visit."

"You better," he growled.

With a wide grin, Naruto gave his GG a hug. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for teaching me, GG."

They started to walk down the tunnel, but were stopped by GG's voice. "Forget something, Naruto?"

He grimaced, but went back and grabbed the pack of scrolls and books that he'd tried to secretly drop behind GG during the hug. "You had to notice."

"I'm old, not senile. Have a nice trip!"

------------------------------------------------

"Flat land," Naruto marveled. "I wondered if we'd ever see it again."

They had made it out of the mountains safely and were now resting in the foothills while miles of forest stretched out before the small troupe. As Meara had stated, there were signposts everywhere in the mountains, pointing in a myriad of different directions. Naruto had stared blankly at the symbols, but his mother had interpreted them with ease, leading her family through the passages for the rest of the morning. Now, she had declared a break.

Tama stretched out on the grass and stared up at the clouds. "I have to say, as fun as that was, it'll be good to get home."

"That won't be for another couple days," Kenji told her.

"I know," Tama murmured. "Hey, Naruto. What did all of those people give you there? I noticed you stuffing a lot of gifts into your bag."

In response to her question, Naruto dumped out all of his gifts. "Well, I've got two loaves of bread, a hunk of some kind of cheese, a bag of vegetables, another bag of vegetables, some herbs, dried and fresh . . ."

As he listed each item, he set it out on the blanket they'd spread out. "Some socks, a coat, a few scrolls, some beads in a bag, a blanket, or two, some pants, wool, some rocks in a bag—"

At this, Raidon jumped up and began to beg his brother for the rocks. "Hold on, let me finish," Naruto insisted. "Soft boots, a wooden flute, a quill and ink set, ribbons, a couple of soft shirts, a knife set, more scrolls and of course, this bag itself."

They stared in amazement at the array of gifts laid out before them. "Why exactly did they give me all of this stuff?"

"Well, the food is for our family on our journey," Meara explained. "But from the look of it, most of this is for help in your training. The clan must have found out that Grandpa was training you to be a mage, even if you were a novice, and since you're from the clan head's family, they wanted to help you out."

Naruto looked over the stuff. "But why so interested in me?"

"The position of clan head is passed down through the family," his mother began. "If I hadn't married your father, I would have taken over once GG died. They might be thinking that you will at some point."

Naruto blinked. "Me? Lead the tribe?"

Meara shrugged. "You're the oldest heir."

"Oh." Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Was I leading them on when I took all this stuff?"

"No, they would have been insulted if you'd said no," Meara assured him. "I'll write to GG when we get back and tell him to be careful, so he doesn't give them false hope."

"All of this stuff is for Naruto?" Raidon wondered, eyeing the bag of rocks longingly.

Meara reached over and ruffled his hair. "Yeah, sorry, but those 'rocks' are actually crystals and gems that will help him in spells," she explained. "Besides, you have enough rocks to keep you busy, right?"

Raidon sighed heavily. "I guess." He leaned back against her shoulder, pouting at the loss of his bag of rocks.

"What's all the rest of this stuff for?" Kenji asked. "Like, the ribbon or the wool, what are those for?"

Meara shrugged. "Those I don't know. I think they just wanted to give you something before you left."

Naruto reached for the scrolls, unfurling them and discovering two maps, a detailed anatomy of the human body, and a few other interesting tidbits. He began to repack his things, placing the books and scrolls GG had given him in the bottom, along with the other scrolls. He looked over everything as he put it in, noticing the gemwork on the knife set, and the detailing on the flute.

"Oh, look at the embroidery on the clothes," Tama commented.

"Those are protective spells woven in by some of the master weavers of the clan," Meara explained. "They'll protect you against all kinds of things."

"Even on the socks," Naruto commented, packing them away. "Hey, Raidon, you wanna wear the coat until we get to Konoha?"

The blonde boy perked up. "Sure!" He scampered up and let Naruto wrap the overly large coat around him, folding the sleeves up several times. The thing went down past his knees and the collar was large enough to cover his head like a hood. He grinned from beneath it.

"Alright, I think we've wasted enough time here," Meara decided. "Time to continue on the journey!"

Naruto finished packing away all of his gifts, putting the food on top, and stood to move on. "Okay, let's get home."

They were about halfway to the forest when Naruto's spine began to tingle again. _Trouble, great.__ And Dad's not here. I guess it's up to me, then. _

Raidon suddenly ran ahead to pick up a particularly interesting rock on the path. Naruto didn't see the wire until the boy tripped over it, but a hail of kunai came at him from the side.

"Raidon!"

Naruto tried to run forward to help him, but his path was suddenly blocked by a huge, swinging log. He grabbed Kenji and jumped out of the way, heart pounding. _God, Raidon. That was a lot of kunai. Oh, God, no!_

Before he could think, though, he heard his mother's voice shout, "Naruto, down!" and dropped to the floor. A stream of huge shuriken streaked over his head, colliding with the log and several of the attackers. Naruto spun around to see his mother holding a smoking scroll. She dropped it and began to form handsigns.

Naruto stared. "_Mom?!?"_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head as his mother finished a set of hand signs. "Water Style: Thousand Needle Attack!"

Needles of water formed out of nowhere above Meara's head and flew toward the thirty or so men that were attacking them. Scared out of their minds, they jumped backwards, trying to avoid the projectiles. The needles dissolved seconds before hitting the men. Brows knit in confusion, the band looked around, wondering where the next attack would come from.

Already into her next jutsu, Meara shouted, "Now, Tama!"

On the other side of the attackers, Tama stood charging her fist with chakra. Naruto stared. Was this his sister? The Tama he'd come to know was a regular teenage girl, but this Tama was someone he didn't know. Her green eyes were cold and hard; her jaw was set firm and unrelenting. She was a statue of ice and power. Never had he seen her as a ninja, but now he couldn't help it. His jaw hit the dirt as, in a move Naruto had seen before, the blonde woman slammed her fist into the ground. The chakra she'd collected spread throughout the ground, but instead of creating a crater like Tsunade or Sakura would, Tama manipulated her chakra so that the ground broke into pebble-sized chunks.

The second that happened, Meara finished her jutsu. If Tama had been ice, Meara was fire. Her eyes were blazing hot and fierce, her lips were drawn back into a feral snarl. Blue chakra and green _Areah Broah _swirled around her, sending her hair and any loose clothing flying as if in a strong wind.

In a voice reverberating with fury and power, she bellowed, "Uzumaki Style: Trapping Earth Vortex!"

She slammed both hands into the ground.

Naruto felt Kenji grab tight onto his arm as the ground beneath them shook. The little pebbles that Tama had created began to spin around the men, turning to dust and sucking the attackers down. The men howled and tried to claw their way out. Most could find no leverage in the spinning earth and continued to sink. The few on the edges scrambled up, but could not stand on the shaking ground.

When the trapped men were chest-deep in the ground, it stopped swirling around them and solidified. The ground was like quicksand, as much as they tried, they couldn't find any purchase to pull themselves up. The few on the edges tried to run away once the shaking stopped, but again, Naruto was surprised by his mother.

"_You think you're getting away?" _The woman Body-Flickered in front of them. The men who remained on their feet whimpered and tried to back away or get around her. She let none escape.

"_Don't!" _Meara crashed her fist into one man's face, sending him careening into two of his comrades. One of them got up and charged toward her, but she dropped into a crouch and brought her right leg straight up, catching him in the jaw.

"_You!"_He went flying up into the air and came down hard, but before he'd even begun to come down, Meara was on the move again.

"_Ever!"_She punched a man in the gut then kneed his face with her right kneecap when he doubled over. A man came up behind her and she shot her crooked leg back, sending her heel into his solar plexus.

"_Hurt!" _The Hokage's wife twisted, planting her hands on the ground and swinging her left leg up to kick his jaw and send him to unconsciousness. There was only one left and he was shaking in fear. Meara created a shadow clone.

"_My!" _The clone charged forward and slammed her fist into his gut, bending him in half. The original ran forward and, using the clone as a platform, launched herself high into the air. As she came down, she brought her right leg up.

"_Children!"_Her leg came down hard on the final man's back. With a pained cry, his face was shoved into the dirt, blood and teeth falling out of his mouth. He held onto consciousness for a moment before slumping over with a moan.

Naruto stared at his mother, eyes wide and jaw open. Meara stood, hands still clenched, hair falling in her face. She looked around and, seeing all of her opponents down and out, turned to her children. "Naruto!" she screamed.

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Don't just sit there like a moron! Find Raidon!" she shouted.

The name snapped Naruto out of his stupor and the sight of his brother's short body being hit with kunai flashed before his eyes. He began to search the underbrush in the general direction that Raidon had been thrown. Images of blond hair stained with blood ran through his head and bile rose in his throat. Naruto forced it down and focused on finding Raidon.

After an eternity of looking, Naruto spotted something yellow behind a bush. "Raidon!"

He dove forward, brambles digging into his skin and rocks scraping through his pants. He finally reached the small boy, covered in kunais. _Don't move him. If he's hurt, don't move him. _

Naruto knocked the stray weapons away and gently pulled down the collar of the coat, which was covering all but the tips of his hair. The bright hair was clean and Naruto tried to get a pulse with shaking hands. When he finally felt the steady beat beneath his fingers, the elder blond nearly fell apart with relief. "Thank god. He's alive!" he called to his family.

Kenji came crashing to him through the bushes. His face was unusually pale and he looked infinitely younger with his blue eyes huge and terrified. His lower lip trembled, but Kenji bit down hard and controlled it. Naruto turned his attention back to his youngest brother. He carefully began to peel the coat down, checking his body for any injuries. Relief and amazement grew as he discovered not a scratch on the little boy.

"What?" he whispered. "How?"

Naruto pulled the brown coat completely off Raidon, throwing it to the side. With a sigh of relief, he scooped the boy up and ran back to the clearing. Meara finished tying up the attackers and sprinted toward the two. Tama joined her a minute later and the two medics checked him out.

Kenji stepped into the clearing and held the coat in front of them. There were a few kunai caught in the fabric and some holes where the kunais had already fallen out. He swallowed hard and showed them the protective spell that had been embroidered on the hem. The thread was glowing green, but it began to fade as the weapons were removed from the coat.

"The coat protected him?" Naruto asked.

Kenji simply nodded, plucking the last of the blades from where they'd gotten caught in the weave. "The spell."

"Then why is he knocked out?" Naruto asked. "If the spell protected him, then, why?"

"It only stopped the blades from cutting him," Meara explained. "The coat blunted the weapons, but they still hit him." She pulled up his shirt and showed the bruises from the impact.

"So some hit his head," Tama murmured. She ran her hands over his head. "He doesn't have a concussion."

Meara breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god."

She gathered him into his arms for a moment, closing her eyes and kissing his forehead. "Alright, Tama and Kenji, take Raidon down the road for a little while," she ordered. "Heal his wounds and wait there for Naruto and me."

Tama nodded and picked Raidon out of her mother's arms. She and Kenji stood and began to walk down the road, casting glances over their shoulders.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" Naruto asked when they were out of earshot.

"What do you think?" she snapped, rolling up her sleeves. "We're going to take care of them."

The conscious men shook slightly as the blonde woman stalked to them. "Talk."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked over the captured men. None of them wore headbands at all, and their kunai and shuriken were old and rusted. Naruto realized that not even a single counter jutsu had been attempted. Finally, the men were actually_ whimpering_ in fear as no ninja worth his salt would and Naruto came to a conclusion. "Hold on, are you guys even ninjas?"

One of the men trapped in the ground shook his head. "No, no we're not. W-will you let us go now?"

"_Let you GO?!" _Naruto and Meara shouted at the same time.

Enraged, Meara grabbed the front of the man's shirt and dragged him out of the ground. "_Like Hell!" _She drew her fist back and channeled chakra into it. One punch sent the idiot smashing through several trees and Naruto was pretty sure he heard a bone or two snap.

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Meara stepped up to another one. "If you're not ninjas, what are you?"

"B-b-bandits," the man whispered. He chewed on his lip hard enough to draw blood and closed his eyes. "We, uh, we surrender."

"You don't surrender after you've already been beaten, idiot," Naruto snapped, resisting the urge to kick him in the head. _I guess I'm not low enough to beat a man who can't fight back. _

"What group, then?" Meara demanded. "I know there are many bandit groups running around these woods."

Another man piped up. "We won't tell you."

The one who'd confessed to being a bandit shouted back at him. "Don't be stupid! You saw what she can do!"

"It doesn't matter," Meara interrupted. "We'll get a reward for you morons no matter what. Just tell me, are there any more of you in these woods?"

Confessor swallowed and chewed his lip again. "No, we run the place. From the mountains to the river is our territory," he answered.

Meara grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. "Is this your whole band?"

The man nodded feverishly and after considering him a moment, Meara let his chin go. "Fine. Naruto, there's a town about an hour east of here. Take your sister and brothers there and send the local authorities out here," she ordered.

"But what about you, Mom?" he asked.

Meara sighed and grabbed his chin. "Do you really think I need protection from thugs?"

Naruto pursed his lips. "Nope. But I think Dad would kill me if I left you here alone."

"And I'd kill you if you let your siblings go there alone," she replied. "Tama will be exhausted from the fight and the healing, her chakra reserves aren't that high. Kenji is still too young to defend anyone properly and Raidon is injured."

Naruto saw her reasoning, but it still didn't sit well with him. "I'll leave two clones here," he compromised. "So that if you need help, one'll dissipate and let me know and the other will fight with you."

Meara smiled. "Deal."

A moment later, two shadow clones of Naruto appeared and sat down on opposite ends of the clearing, keeping an eye out in all directions. Naruto himself hurried down the path his siblings had taken to where they gathered, sitting on the ground. Kenji stood up as he came.

"Well, what did they want?" he asked.

"Money," Naruto answered. "They were just highway robbers looking for easy targets."

Tama rolled her eyes. "They sure don't know how to pick their targets, do they?"

"Yeah, right. Mom told us to go to a town about an hour east of here," he explained. "We're going to send the police or whoever takes care of the town to pick up the guys."

Kenji bit his knuckle in a childish manner that Naruto hadn't seen before. "But what about Mommy—Mom?"

Naruto reached over and ruffled his soft hair. "Don't worry, she can take care of herself, but I left some shadow clones with her anyways," he assured the boy, smiling brightly.

Kenji sighed heavily. "I guess that's alright," he murmured.

"Do you guys still have your packs and stuff?"

They nodded. Naruto wrapped Raidon in the coat again and handed the boy's pack to Kenji. He scooped the smallest blonde up and shifted him into a piggy-back position. _How did I end up doing this again? _"Okay, let's head out," Naruto decided.

The four set off to the direct east, Naruto sending out shadow clones in various directions, as both guards and scouts. As they walked, Naruto kept channeling chakra to his ears and his nose, knowing that in the woods, those two senses were most reliable. He never would have thought to sniff out the enemy, but Kiba and Kakashi had proven him wrong many times.

They had been walking for about forty-five minutes when Naruto noticed Tama was falling behind. "Hey, keep up, Tama. We're almost there," he encouraged, shifting the boy on his back and giving her the Nice Guy Pose 21, sparkling teeth included. "You can do it."

She shook her head. "I don't have as much chakra or stamina as you do, Naruto," she muttered, slowly catching up to her brothers. "I swear, you stole all of mine in the womb. That's why you have so much and I have so little."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? I have as much chakra as anyone else."

Tama rolled her eyes. "Don't be modest. Dad said even as a kid, your chakra levels and healing abilities were not normal. Especially your chakra. When you were twelve, you could summon up more chakra than a few Jounins, remember? It's just you being freaky."

As she reached them, they began to walk again, though at a slower pace. Naruto frowned, considering what she'd just revealed.

_I have high chakra here, too? I always thought it was just Kyuubi __amping__ it up. That's what Tsunade and Kakashi always indicated. What did they say about the seal?_

_The swirly part was to suppress the fox's chakra. If any escaped that seal, the other eight-pronged one would let it mingle with my own chakra. I've always had lots of chakra and lots of energy. I didn't think about it too much when I was young, but I figured later it was just the fox giving me a leg up all the time, like he'd always heal me. _

Naruto's eyes narrowed in thought. _But Tama just said that happened here, too. Now, I _know _I never had a demon sealed inside me here, so what was it? __"Just you being freaky."_

_So, does that mean that I was born with high chakra or something? How does that happen? Is it really possible some of her chakra transferred to me before we were born? _

The teen closed his eyes briefly and sighed. _But no one here would know about the other world, would they? The only one who could tell me anything would be Kyuubi, but I haven't been able to get to him in ages. _

_It's probably because of the device thing—damn, I gotta come up with a name for that—that changed the world. The seal used the power of the __Shinigami__, but the, the, uh, World Change Box can't override the power of the Death God, so we're still connected, just not nearly as strong. _

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Hmm." _I wonder where Kyuubi is here. Is he, like floating in some blank vacuum, with nothing to do or see? Can he still possess regular foxes, like he did with the little fox I found in the animal shelter? Or is he turning into the Kyuubi of this world? _

_I wonder what this Kyuubi would be __like?__ Would he still be a temperamental __furball_

_What did Kyuubi do before he attacked Konoha? I mean, sure there's a lot of uncivilized land in the world, but it's not like a giant red demon fox the size of a mountain that oozes killer intent can go unnoticed for centuries until he decides to step on a few humans. _

"Tch, dumb fox," Naruto muttered, making a face into the middle distance. _He never could give me a straight answer, could he? No, it was always just, "I was angry" or "I wanted to destroy that little village." Once he mentioned something about snakes, which got me thinking about Orochimaru, but I figured he was getting the past and the present mixed up. __Destroying a village and countless lives for no reason.__ He really is a psychopath, isn't he? _

Naruto dropped his eyes to the ground again, brows knitting together in consternation. _No wonder everyone hated him. I mean, he did kill so many people. But, still, was it __reall__—_

"Naruto!"

He snapped his head up, blinking several times to re-orient himself. He had gotten so lost in thoughts, he hadn't paid any attention to where he was going. Looking ahead, he spotted a pair of tall city gates and two men standing at the gate.

"Oh, we're here," he said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kenji snapped. "Now, let's go and get someone out to Mom. I don't like her being there alone."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, come on." They trudged up to the gates.

The guards snapped to attention. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Namikaze Naruto, my family and I were traveling from the mountains and we were attacked by robbers. We took care of them, well, my mother did, and then she sent us here to get you," Naruto explained.

One of the guards blinked, then his eyes widened in astonishment. "Really? They attacked you? And everyone is alright?"

"They knocked my brother out," Naruto said, indicating the sleeping boy on his back. "But other than that we're fine. Listen, my mother is waiting there for some help from the local authorities. Send back up already!"

"Okay, uh," the other guard stuttered. Clearly they had not had to deal with a situation like this before.

Naruto took charge. "Listen. Do you have a local police force or something?"

They nodded. "Good," he snapped. He looked at the stuttering one. "You will take me there, then you will show my family to the nearest hotel so they can rest. Okay?"

He nodded and turned to lead them through the city. The four siblings followed him to a large, brown building. "Is this it?" Naruto asked.

At the guard's nod, he knelt down and woke up Raidon, who had come back from unconsciousness only to fall asleep on his brother's shoulder. "Hey, wake up and go with Tama and Kenji, okay?"

Raidon rubbed his eyes and let Kenji lead him away. Naruto hurried into the police station. "Hey! I need some help here!"

A man sitting at a desk near the front door snorted. "Yeah, who doesn't? Fill out these forms and wait in line for us to get to you." He pointed at a series of paper stacks on the desk and the line around the room.

Naruto stared, then turned back to the desk clerk. "I don't have time for that! My mo—"

"No one has time," the desk clerk replied. "Do you?" he called out to the line of people, who all responded with "no" or some creative suggestions and glares at Naruto.

Naruto slammed his palms down in front of the clerk. "Will. You. Listen. My family was traveling home from vacation and we were attacked by bandits."

The man sighed and re-adjusted his glasses. "We get bandit attacks all the time. Fill this form out." He shoved paper in his face.

"No, you don't understand! We're ninjas and we caught them! We need someone to come out and arrest them or something!" Naruto shouted.

The clerk stared at him for several seconds, then burst out laughing. "You—ahaha- you expect me to believe that some snot-nosed punk took out the bandits? Bah! Hahahaha!" He pulled his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt, still chortling.

Seriously ticked off, Naruto did a handsign. Suddenly, the waiting room was filled with pissed off Chuunins. All noise stopped. The twenty or so Narutos folded their arms. "Well?"

The clerk stared at all of them, eyes wide. He slowly put his glasses back on and blinked a couple of times. Naruto smirked, knowing that he'd finally convinced the man. To Naruto's frustration, he regained his composure and smirked back. "Well, if you can make that many copies of yourselves, why don't you bring the bandits in yourself? We can't afford that many officers."

He went back to his paperwork. With a colossal puff, all but one Naruto disappeared. "What? You're not going to help?"

"I told you, we can't afford to send out that many officers," he snapped. "Go bring them in yourself."

Naruto stared open-mouthed at him, then snapped it shut. "Fine. I will." He spun around and stormed out, to the applause of the other people in line. His face flamed red with anger and embarrassment. Blowing air out of lungs, he jumped to the rooftops and began to sprint along them, out of the little city and into the forest.

_Damn idiot clerk. I'll tie him up with red tape and stuff those forms down his throat when I get back! _Naruto flew through the forest, arriving at the site with his mother and the bandits in a record-breaking ten minutes. He landed next to his mother, who looked up at him in surprise.

"Where are—"

"They wouldn't come," Naruto answered. "Said since we were ninjas, we could bring them in without help."

Meara rolled her eyes. "Fantastic. Always trust local government to be helpful," she muttered. "Alright, can you make a lot of shadow clones?"

Naruto nodded. "And I can keep them up until we get there," he answered.

"I guess it's a good thing I tied them all up while we were waiting," Meara said, brushing her hands off.

The pair dragged all of the tied up bandits to their feet. Using the remaining twine and rope, they looped the thirty-four men together in a long line and began the march. Naruto created ten more shadow clones in addition to the two that had been standing guard with his mother. They patrolled on either side of the long lines of bandits, giving them menacing glares and making faces. Meara just rolled her eyes and ignored all the Narutos.

After an hour of walking and a few ill-planned escape attempts that just ended up tangling the ropes, they arrived at the gates. Naruto nodded at the other guard, who remembered him from before and led the bandits through the city streets. As they walked, a crowd gathered and began to follow them. Some of the crowd shouted things at the bandits they remembered, others glared and some still cheered for their capture.

Finally, Naruto stepped into the police station. The pissy clerk was still there. He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Naruto reached behind him and dragged in the first of the bandits. "Still need me to fill out forms?"


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"Uh, hey, Mom," Naruto began. "I have a question. Or two."

Meara sighed deeply. "You're going to ask where I learned to fight like that, aren't you?"

Naruto nodded. He'd been thinking about it ever since they'd brought the bandits in, which was about fifteen minutes ago. After the clerk had called for more officers to come in and arrest the bandits, one of them had escorted Naruto and Meara to the room they were in now. Naruto figured it was some official's office, because of all the plaques and certificates hanging on the walls. He turned his attention back to his mother. "Well, where did you?"

She turned her head to look at him, green eyes cautious. "I'll have to give you a bit of a history lesson before you can understand," she warned.

"Okay," Naruto agreed.

"Oh, where to start?" she murmured, tilting her head back and looking up at the ceiling. "First of all, you know that the Hidden Villages of today are relatively young, right?"

Naruto cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"The Leaf Village, for example, was only founded about 60 years ago," she explained. "We're only on the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Kazekage is in charge of the Sand Village, the Fifth Raikage is in the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the Seventh Mizukage, only because the Mizukages keep getting assassinated, and the Third Tschuikage is reigning in the Rock Village. All of these villages are very young, yet history goes back thousands of years."

Naruto frowned, he'd never considered that before. There was a minor section in the Academy about history, but it only detailed the ninja wars of the past few decades. "So, there were no ninjas before that?"

Meara chuckled. "No, there were definitely ninjas. About fifteen hundred years ago, however, there were no ninjas, or Hidden Villages. Humans were still a relatively small race, gathered somewhere in the western part of what we call the Fire land. Someone, whose name has been lost to history, discovered chakra. At the time, he thought it was merely life force. He used it mostly for healing people. A few hundred years later, Churaeah Horae uncovered his _Areah Broah. _He recognized that it was not life force and that it could be used for many things other than healing. Horae left his village, and traveled up the river they lived on into the mountains, to the valley we just left. There he founded the Churaeah tribe."

"About nine hundred years ago, a man by the name of Jutsu Karati accidentally found that his chakra wasn't his life force, and more, it could be used as a weapon. He began manipulating it in different ways, naming these manipulations after himself, jutsus."

Naruto frowned. "Wait, I thought that 'jutsu' meant 'technique.'"

"In today's language it does," Meara acknowledged. "But language was different back then. It was actually closer to the Churaeah's language than it is to Japanese. It has evolved since Karati's time so that his last name simply means a technique. He'd probably be crushed. Anyway, he began training people in the ways of his chakra manipulation. Eventually, hand signs developed and the basic jutsus we know, Transformation, Clones, Substitution, were created."

Naruto propped his chin on his fists and listened to his mother's tale, enthralled. She continued, "Karati had wanted to use these jutsus as weapons to take over the world, to unite all of human kind under his rule. For a short time, he did, but then his prized student killed him and took over. Then that man's student killed him. This trend of assassinations continued for another fifty years, until some ninjas decided they'd had enough. They left the village, then only called the Ninja Village, and formed their own, called the Great Village. Others also wanted to get out of the Ninja Village, but didn't like the principles of the Great Village leaders. They formed their own village. After about a hundred years, there were seven villages, none hidden. Wars between the villages broke out every ten years or so. These seven villages were stable, regularly switching leaders, for two hundred years, until a great war came and they wiped each other out."

Meara sighed and rubbed her eyes. "The ninjas that survived this first catastrophic war reformed new villages. But seventy years later, the same thing happened. According to our history, that is the cycle of the ninjas. Villages will be formed, remain for anywhere from fifty to three hundred years, and then annihilate each other in a gigantic war. Back then, the ninja villages were the only sense of government, at that time there were no country borders or daimyos. Every time the villages were gone, the rest of the world was thrown into chaos. The Churaeah had been watching from their mountain perch for centuries. The fourth time they saw the world destroying itself, they decided to step in. Some powerful mages moved out of the valley and formed the Whirlpool Country, whose borders stretched from the Western Ocean to the mountains of the Earth Country. Others founded the first hidden village, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool."

Naruto grinned. "Creative name."

"They weren't trying to be creative," Meara responded, raising an eyebrow. "They were trying to be stable. The two struck a bargain. The ninjas could stay as long as they protected the Whirlpool Country's borders. After seventy-five years, the founders of the Whirlpool country had died. But they had set an example. Over the next hundred years, the Whirlpool country's territory had broken up into the countries we know today, Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning, Wind and the numerous small ones. Most of these countries made the same deal with the hidden villages that formed in their territories."

"What about the Whirlpool village?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that stayed in the Fire Country until the next great war. This is where your question gets answered. The last great war was about one hundred years ago. As usual, all great villages were destroyed, but the civilian population remained stable due to the daimyos. The Whirlpool village was destroyed, but the ninjas weren't homeless. Since childhood, they'd learned about why their village had been created and about their roots in the Churaeah. Their home destroyed, these ninjas came back to the tribe."

Naruto's eyes lit up as he put the pieces together. "And they taught the clan all the jutsus they'd learned!"

Meara nodded. "That's right! The ninjas returned and taught the clan head and other powerful mages. At that time, my great-grandfather was clan head. He learned them and taught them to my grandfather. And then my grandfather taught me. I learned many jutsus as a child, but I learned them using my _Areah Broah, _so they were actually more powerful than regular jutsus."

"Cool! Can you teach me?" he asked.

"Sure, I can. I tried to teach your father when we first met," she admitted. "But he didn't have _Areah Broah, _so he couldn't use it. He was very frustrated; of course it didn't help that I lost my temper very easily back then."

"Back then?" Naruto asked. "How old were you?"

"I was twelve," she confessed. "I had run away from the tribe for the first time."

"You ran away?" Naruto interrupted. "Why? The valley's a great place."

"I was only known as the Head's granddaughter. Cliché, I know," Meara laughed. "But I was young and impulsive. I wanted to go somewhere that I was just me, but I couldn't let my grandfather find me. Ironically, to be myself I had to change my name and dye my hair."

"What color did you dye your hair?" Naruto wondered. "I can't see you with anything but blonde hair."

Meara sighed. "Red. I dyed my hair so that it was an almost garish bright red and translated my name, Churaeah Meara, into Japanese. When Jiraya and I met, I punched him in the nose and introduced myself as Uzumaki Kushina."

"You punched him in the nose?" Naruto wondered. "Why?"

Meara rubbed her top lip. "When I ran away, I'd never been outside of the valley. I was a little twelve year old girl in a forest I didn't know and I was attacked by a missing nin. I held him off for about five minutes, until Minato found us. He was on a team that had been sent out to capture the ninja. He was the first to reach the man and the two began to fight. A few minutes later, Jiraya and the rest of the team showed up. Minato's teammate helped him take the missing nin down. Jiraya helped me up, introduced himself and _giggled._"

Naruto snorted. "You mean that perverted bathhouse-peeping giggle?"

Meara nodded and Naruto threw his head back and howled with laughter. "No wonder you punched him!"

When Naruto had calmed himself down, Meara continued. "Yes, I punched Jiraya and called him a white-haired pervert. Minato's team had tied up the ninja by then and your father was on his way over. When he heard that, he fell apart laughing just like you did."

"Wait a minute," Naruto said. "Three twelve-year-olds took down a missing-nin?"

"No! Your father's three years older than me, remember?" Meara chuckled. "He was fifteen and a Chuunin and, as embarrassing as it is, when I first met him, I did have a crush on him."

Naruto laughed. "You had a crush on Dad? What did he do?"

"Nothing," Meara snorted. "He was completely oblivious, as most fifteen-year-olds are. But anyway, during the fight, his teammate, a redhead named Hideharu, had been injured slightly, so I healed him with some spells. They took me back to the Leaf Village, where I met Sarutobi and explained everything to him. He sent a message to Grandpa and the two agreed that I could stay in the Leaf Village for one year, to improve my ninja skills. I ended up staying with Tsunade. She volunteered because she'd heard about the medical practices I used to heal Hideharu and she was interested."

"During that one year," she continued. "I passed the Genin test and became a Chuunin. I still saw Minato occasionally. I didn't want him to know that I had a crush, so I tried to be like one of the boys, brash, loud, always telling jokes and pulling pranks. By that time, your father was already becoming a regular name. Namikaze Minato. He wasn't known as the Yellow Flash yet."

"What happened when the year was up?" Naruto asked. _This is so cool. I never knew this about my parents. _

"I went home," Meara answered simply. "In truth, I had missed the valley and my friends. I was glad to be home. But listen to me. I came back to Konoha after that, several times and in the Ninja War, I did make a name for myself as Uzumaki Kushina, Whirlpool ninja."

Naruto grinned. "So both my parents are famous?"

"Being famous isn't always a good thing," Meara said, biting her lower lip.

"Why not?"

"Enemies. Listen to me. I want you and Tama to take credit for capturing the ninjas," she said. "If I admit that I fought them, it may somehow come out that I am Uzumaki Kushina. When I went by that name, I had a lot of enemies. None of them have figured out who I am since I changed my name back and married Minato. I don't want to be found out, okay?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "But, you—"

"No, Naruto," Meara interrupted. "I am known as Namikaze Meara, wife of the Hokage, not Uzumaki Kushina, Whirlpool ninja. I don't want to bring danger to my family, okay?"

"Dad has enemies, too," Naruto argued.

"This would put a double target on your back," Meara insisted. "As the son of the Hokage and the Whirlpool ninja. I will not take chances with your safety."

Looking into her deep green eyes, Naruto deflated. "Okay, but I will tell Dad the truth."

"That's fine," his mother agreed. A knock came on the door. Meara stood up. "Come in."

Before the door opened, she swatted Naruto's shoulder. "Come on, stand up! Show some respect."

With a huff, Naruto stood, only to slump back into his chair as the clerk, who Naruto had dubbed Glasses, strode through. "Naruto!" his mother scolded.

"It's that dumb clerk! The one who told me to 'Get them myself!'" Naruto snapped.

"Really?" Meara asked. She considered Glasses.

His response was to sniff and pushed his glasses up his face. "It was the only logical thing to do."

"The only logical thing to do?" Meara repeated.

The nameless clerk nodded firmly. "I am sure you will understand."

Meara was silent for a moment. When she spoke, it was in a sweet, kind voice. "Oh, I understand. I understand perfectly. There was simply nothing else you could do."

Glasses preened while Naruto gaped open-mouthed at his mother. He nearly voiced a protest, but she held up her hand and kept talking, her voice slowly losing its gentle undertones.

"There was nothing else you could do because you are a clerk. You are a spineless little nobody who sits at a desk all day pushing papers and getting pushed around by your superiors. You hate it, every minute of it, but you just aren't _man enough _to do something about it, are you?"

The clerk tried to stutter a response, but Meara kept talking, her voice rising with every word. "No! You're not! You simply don't have the balls to stand up to someone who is above you, so like the coward you are, you take it out on anyone you can! Anyone who comes in that room, you boss around and you control with your papers and your prissy attitude! Because you can't control your life, you control _theirs!"_

"You call yourself a man?" she sneered, giving Glasses a shove in the shoulder. "You are nothing but a _cowardly, passive-aggressive imbecile _who abuses what little power he is given! In case you missed that class, the government is supposed _to _help and _protect_ people! But instead of responding to a threat to your town and your people, you dismissed it and sent my son out on his own! You are _damn lucky_ that my son is as good a person as he is! Anyone less would have let the bandits go just to spite you!"

"You make me sick!" Meara shoved him toward the door and turned her back on him. "Get out of here! I don't want to be in the same room as you!"

"B-but—" The clerk fiddled with his glasses.

"GET OUT!" she shouted. "Get out and get someone _competent_ in here, NOW, or I will rip those glasses off your sniveling face and _crush them!" _

Sweat dropped down the Glasses' face and his eyes widened to the size of saucers at her threat. He shook, rooted to the spot. Seriously ticked off, Meara lunged for the spectacles and whipped them off the clerk's nose. Dangling them off her index finger, she smirked and let them drop to the hardwood floor.

The clerk whimpered.

Naruto closed his eyes and savored the crunch of foot meeting glasses. Meara ground them into the floor, making sure all the glass was out of the frames. She then picked up the empty wires and, holding them in front of the clerk's nose, twisted them into a pretzel. The woman stuffed them back into his hand and grabbed him by the hair.

"Now," she snapped. "I am seriously losing my patience!"

Meara dragged him to the door, opened it and threw him out into the hallway. "If you don't get someone, I will make _sure _that you can never fill out another _damn form _again!"

People in the hallway stopped and stared at the display. The clerk stared up at her, still terrified. Meara took a step forward, cracking her knuckles. "_GO!" _

The clerk scrambled to his feet and tripped his way down the hallway, unable to see clearly without his oh-so-precious glasses. He looked back at her once before rounding the corner and Meara, to Naruto's ever increasing amazement, did something he never would have thought.

She flipped him off.

Clearly, the clerk could somewhat understand what she was doing, because he whimpered a bit and ran off. Once he was gone, the hallway exploded in applause. Apparently, no one like the clerk formerly known as Glasses. Naruto stepped out and wrapped an arm around Meara's shoulders.

"This is my mom!" he shouted proudly. _This is my mom. _

Meara bowed once to the assembly and led Naruto back inside, where he promptly glomped her.

"I love you! You are the best! You are awesome! You are the most fantastic mom in the world! I love you!" Naruto picked her up and spun her in a circle, grinning from ear to ear.

She laughed and returned the hug. "As well you should. I love you, too."

Meara sighed contentedly and sat down. "Oh, I haven't yelled at someone like that in ages. It felt good."

"I have never seen this side of you before," Naruto said, still grinning.

"I know. I've calmed down a bit as I grew up," she answered simply. "But back to what we were talking about before that moron interrupted us. "You promise you'll take credit for the ninjas."

Naruto sighed. "I said I would," he reminded her. "But I don't like it."

They slipped into a comfortable silence until an official opened the door. Naruto and Meara stood and welcomed a graying man in a sharp blue suit. He bade them sit and moved around to the other side of the desk, sitting himself.

"I must say, this is an honor," the man began. "I am Hirsoa Yuki, the mayor of our humble town. And you have our eternal thanks for ridding our countryside of those terrible highway robbers." He directed his comments to Naruto.

Naruto, for his part, smiled and nodded. _I'd be more excited for the praise if I'd actually deserved it. It just doesn't feel right. _

"These bandits have been plaguing us for over five years," the mayor continued. "We would like to do something to honor you and your sister."

Naruto shifted. "Ah, well. I don't know," he muttered. "I really just want to go home."

"But you can stay the night, can't you?" the mayor asked, his bright face beaming. "It would mean the world to this little village."

Naruto could feel his resistance waning. The eager earnestness was hard to say no to. Pressing his advantage, the mayor kept talking. "I mean, we don't get celebrities in here very often. The son of the wonderful Fourth Hokage and the man who has rid us of the villains that have terrorized us for years. Really, will you indulge us country folks?"

Naruto shrank in his seat. _How the hell can I say no to that? _"If it's okay with my family," he muttered, giving in.

Meara nodded and Yuki beamed at them again. "Wonderful! What time is it?"

"About three-thirty, sir," his secretary called through the door.

"Let's see," Yuki mused. "What can we do to honor you in the next few hours?"

Naruto rubbed his forehead as his mother and the mayor discussed several options, most of which Naruto shot down. Eventually, they decided on a small ceremony in which Naruto and Tama would be given a little medal of commendation and the reward for the bandits' capture, followed by dinner in the mayor's house.

"Aw, don't be like that, Naruto," Meara teased as they walked back to the hotel where Tama, Kenji and Raidon had been waiting. "It won't be bad and this hotel is a lot nicer than the little road-side inn we were going to stay at."

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Besides," she continued. "Your sister will probably need a lot of rest to recover, as will Raidon."

As the pair reached the hotel, Naruto stopped and grabbed his mother's arm. "There's something that's been bothering me."

"Is it about me being a ninja?" Meara asked, her brow knitting in concern.

Naruto shook his head. "No, this is something that has been going on for weeks," he explained.

"The ANBU."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, where have they been? When Mizuki attacked me in the woods, they weren't there. When Kenji and Raidon ran off from the pet store, I couldn't find them. When Raidon was kidnapped coming here, they were gone. Just today, when we were attacked, they weren't there. What's wrong with the ANBU?"

Meara sighed and kept walking, tugging on his sleeve to tell him to follow. "I don't know, but I have a feeling that's what your father was called back for," she said quietly. "For years, there's been trouble between him and the head of the ANBU, a man named Danzou. I'm afraid it's reached a head recently."

They reached the hotel and the concierge bowed deeply and brought them up to the room the others had been waiting in. Although Naruto hadn't had the sense to send a message to them, Meara had. The tiger cub who'd brought it was now happily chasing a shoelace dragged around by Raidon.

"Hey, Mom, can we keep him?" the boy asked excitedly, giggling.

Meara chuckled. "I don't know, we'll have to ask his father."

She reached up and bit her thumb, smearing the blood on her palm. She did the handsigns and pressed her palm to the floor. "Summoning Jutsu."

"You have a summons, too?" Naruto asked in amazement.

"Of course she does, cub," rumbled a deep voice from the summoning cloud. "Most powerful ninjas have summonings."

Meara laughed and waved at the smoke to make it go away. "He didn't know I was a ninja until today, Torakingo. Give him a break."

The smoke disappeared to reveal a huge, white tiger. The large feline padded up to Naruto and sniffed his face. After a second, the tiger named Torakingo leaned in and rubbed his face against Naruto. "You smell strong."

"Uh. . . thank you?"

"Torakingo?" Meara called.

The tiger turned around, tail twitching slightly. "What is it, Kushina?"

"You know that's not my name," Meara murmured. She reached out and rubbed behind his ears. "I need you to run to Minato and tell him that we were attacked by rogue bandits on our way home."

Torakingo growled and demanded, "Why didn't you summon me, Kushina?"

"Will you ever stop calling me that?" she asked. "I didn't summon you because they weren't worth it. I need you now because you're the fastest of my summons. Will you tell Minato we were attacked, but we're fine and we'll be a bit delayed."

A growl rumbled in the giant tiger's chest. "Very well, I shall tell him. Cub," he snapped.

The little tiger playing on the bed perked his ears. "Yes, Papa?"

"Do you want to stay here and play?" Torakingo asked.

"Uh-huh." The cub attacked the shoestring for another minute, then abruptly stopped and licked his paw, rubbing it behind his ear.

Torankingo nodded. "Then you may stay for a while longer." He leaned in and rubbed his face against Meara's leg, then sprang out the window. Torakingo was gone into the afternoon with a switch of his striped tail.

Naruto watched him go, hearing the startled cries of the townspeople as they saw a huge white tiger run across the rooftops.

"So," Meara clapped her hands and grinned. "We've got to get ready!"

Kenji frowned. "Huh? Aren't we going to keep moving?"

His mother shook her head. "No, we're going to rest here for tonight and move on tomorrow," she explained. "The mayor wants to give Naruto and Tama a medal for taking out the bandits."

Tama frowned. "But, Naruto did—"

"I know. I've explained this to you before, Tama," Meara interrupted. "You know no one can learn who I was. You and Naruto will take the credit for it. They'll give you a medal or something at a small ceremony tonight and then we'll have dinner with the mayor. Nothing big. Are you up for it?"

Tama closed her eyes and nodded after a moment. "I'll have to go to bed right after that, though."

----------------------------------------

"How long is he going to talk?" Naruto muttered out of the side of his mouth. They were at the ceremony and had been through several speeches from officials of varying importance. The one speaking right now had been droning on for at least thirty minutes, more than twice as long as anyone else.

Tama didn't respond and Naruto shot a glance at her. She wasn't asleep, exactly, but she was as close as you could get with your eyes open. He gently nudged her with his elbow and Tama snapped out of the stupor she'd been in. "Hmn."

"Wake up, there, little sister," Naruto encouraged, disguising his words as an especially wide smile.

"Shut up," Tama responded, grinding down on his toe with her heel.

_Ow__ow__ow__ow_Naruto gritted his teeth and shifted so that he "accidentally" jabbed her side with his elbow. She hissed and put her arm behind his back, pretending to give her brother a one-armed hug, but just used the opportunity to dig her nail into his spine.

Naruto searched for a way to retaliate but at that moment, the mayor stood up. "And now, without _further _ado, I would like to welcome our two heroes to the stage."

Putting aside their antics, the twins stood up and moved to the front of the stage to thunderous applause. Naruto grinned and waved at the crowd, which just encouraged them. Encouraged himself, Naruto began blowing kisses to the assembly until Tama gave him a bony elbow in the ribs. Chastened, the teen stood calmly next to his sister as the mayor spoke for a few minutes about their heroism and what they'd done for the town.

And at last, the mayor declared. "Finally, this ceremony is about over and we can all go home."

Earning a few chuckles from the people, he smiled. "For a great service done for this town and these people, I am proud to give you each a medal and the reward promised. Please step forward when I call your name."

"Namikaze Tama." To a thunderous round of applause, Tama stepped forward and allowed a medal to be placed around her neck. She smiled at the crowd and bowed slightly.

"Namikaze Naruto." When Naruto stepped forward, most of the crowd responded with applause, but it was drowned out by the squeals of the teenage girls. Their noise was so sudden and loud, Naruto instinctively reached for his kunai holster before realizing he was not, in fact, under attack from enemy nins.

_So, these are __fangirls_Naruto gulped and bowed his head so that Yuki could place the medal around his neck, then, like his sister, smiled and bowed to the crowd. Again, the fangirls went nuts.

_Oooooooookay__ Ah, should I say no? Ignore them? Flirt back? Well, definitely, not flirt back. I don't think encouraging them will be a good idea. _

Deciding on ignoring them, Naruto moved back and let the mayor finish with his speech. At long last, just as the sun was setting, the dreadful ceremony was over. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come as the twins had to receive the personal thanks of nearly every citizen. It wasn't that bad for Tama, who mostly got handshakes and a few pecks on the cheek from old ladies. For Naruto, however . . .

"I want to have your babies!"

Tenth time he heard that, Naruto wanted to rip his hair out. He gently shoved the screaming brunette along and shook the hand of the next man. He desperately tried to strike up a conversation with him, anything to stave off the girls for even a minute, but the other man clearly was as terrified as Naruto and escaped immediately.

_Lucky bastard._Naruto thought, watching the man's retreating back. His attention was dragged back to the girls as one leaped forward and tried to eat his face.

_Augh! What the hell! I'm being attacked! Is this some plot? What the—_

Naruto froze as he felt something wet and rough jab at his lips. _What the hell? What is going on! _

But he didn't have any more time to think as someone ripped the girl off of him. The blonde started licking her lips and screaming in ecstasy.

At that point, the Yuki decided to intervene. He called in the police and they started shoving the crowd back. Naruto stepped back and wiped at his lips, being sure not to open his mouth.

_That's an interesting poisoning technique, _he thought, scraping the saliva off his mouth. _But how did she do it without getting sick herself? And didn't she think that I would notice that obvious attack? _

Naruto froze as he heard a few not-quite-disguised snickers from behind him. He spun around to see his mother with her hand over her mouth.

"Mom!" he yelled, outraged. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny! That girl just tried to poison me! We have to find out who was behind it and what kind of poison she was using!"

Meara stared open-mouthed at her son for a moment. Then she gave a little half-laugh and shook her head. "Naruto, that girl wasn't attacking you."

"Yes, she was!"

"No," Meara shook her head. "She was kissing you."

" . . . WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"It's not funny!" Naruto protested as his sister giggled. He spun around and walked down the road backwards, glaring at her as hard as he could.

Which apparently wasn't very hard, since she just laughed harder. "Oh, yes," she snorted. "It was! I wish I'd had a camera for that."

Naruto scowled. "You wouldn't find it so funny if you'd been the one molested."

"They have laws against that," Tama shot back, shoving her hair behind her ear. "And walk forward, you'll trip and hurt yourself."

"I'm fine," Naruto snapped. He folded his arms and kept walking backwards, pouting.

Silence passed for a couple seconds until Tama suddenly gasped and laughed again. Naruto grimaced. _I don't like that sound. That means bad things are coming. _"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"I know what the problem was," she exclaimed. "Dat meanie girl stole wittle Nawuto's fiwst kiss, didn't she?"

Naruto did his best impression of a tomato and spun back around, shouting over his shoulder, "She did not!"

"Actions speak louder than words, Naruto!" Tama teased. "Ha! That's priceless. I'm telling your first girlfriend that your first kiss was . . ."

Naruto tuned her out, the talk of first kisses bringing up memories of his real first "kiss" and from there, his mind spiraled back to the thoughts of the world-changing box. _What did I name that darned thing again?_

_Oh, well. _

Naruto reached up and rubbed at his forehead. _Damn. Okay, I've decided that only Konoha is different, but I still don't know how different. The Uchiha massacre is, like, cancelled out or something by that crazy ninja—I wonder who that was. _

_So, the only huge insane-number-of-casualties other thing is . . ._

_The Kyuubi attack._

Naruto chewed on his lip, then pivoted and walked backwards again, this time facing his mom. "Hey, Mom?"

Meara turned her eyes to her son. "Are you still upset about the kiss?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I was just wondering about something."

"What is it?"

"Well, ah, what was going on around the time I was born?" _Yeah, Naruto, use that ninja subtlety. _

Meara frowned, bemused. "Why would you want to know about that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Just curious. Like, what was the village like? We were still in the war, right?"

Meara nodded. "Yes, Konoha was on the verge of winning the war, we had pushed far into the Rock's territory and their numbers were dwindling. Then . . . one of Konoha's enemies introduced a new type of warfare."

"New type of warfare?" Naruto wondered. "Like what, new elemental jutsus or something?"

"No," Meara shook her head. "Chemical warfare. It had been used on a smaller scale before, poisoning individual ninjas with senbon or such, but this . . . person changed it. He made it into an airborne toxin and unleashed in the city of Konoha."

Naruto felt something sink deep into his stomach. "What happened?"

Meara gave a humorless laugh, eyes shadowed. "The poison spread through Konoha like wildfire. At the first sign, many of the civilians were sent into emergency quarantine, but some died before they could. The ninjas stayed in the village, protecting it against possible attacks, and over half of our force got infected and died terrible deaths before a medic discovered a vaccine."

"That's why the war lasted an extra three years?" Kenji asked.

"Yes. After that, Rock attacked hard and fast. We suffered heavy casualties, but managed to hold them off. Unfortunately, the war was destined to go on longer after that."

"Where were you during this?" Tama wondered. "Did you get sick?"

Meara shook her head. "No, thankfully. When your father and I found out that I was pregnant, I went back to the mountains. Our plan was to protect you kids. Uzumaki Kushina would disappear, and then Churaeah Meara would come out of the mountains, the secret love of the Hokage."

"So, you weren't in any danger from the disease," Tama concluded.

"No. I came down a few days later."

"Mom?" Naruto asked.

"What?"

"Ah, exactly what date was the vaccine developed?"

"October 10th. Why?"

Naruto shook his head. "Just curious," he said. Inside, he was reeling from the news. _Same time, same number of dead.__ Everything's the same as the Kyuubi attack, _he thought. _Damn! All the same stuff __happened,__ or something equivalent to it. How does that happen? Konoha, heck, the whole world has the same kind of stuff happen to it! _

Naruto reached up and rubbed his forehead in confusion. _So, what's the difference? _

"Naruto? Are you okay?"

Naruto snapped his eyes to Raidon, meeting his concerned green ones. "What?" he asked.

"You're rubbing your head, like it hurts or something," he explained. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Naruto answered, dropping his hand back to his side. "I'm just a little bit hungry is all."

Raidon nodded and ran up ahead to his mother. "Mom! We need to stop and eat!"

_Of course! How could I be so stupid? _Naruto resisted the urge to smack himself in the forehead. _That's the difference. __My life and my friends' lives.__ So, I need to figure out which world has the most people better off that I know. _

As the family sat and spread out the food for a side-of-the-road picnic, Naruto pulled out a pen and paper and began to scribble things down. He ate his food absently, and half the time missed his mouth because he was so involved in what he was looking at.

Finally, Meara decided to intervene. "Naruto, either eat or write, but please, don't do both."

He rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," Naruto muttered as he wiped the smeared food off his cheek. "I'm done writing anyway."

"What were you writing?" Kenji asked, frowning at the two lists Naruto had created.

The chuunin clutched the paper to him, refusing to let his brother see what he'd done. "Nothing that concerns you. Leave me alone."

Kenji narrowed his eyes. "You're not being very nice."

Naruto stuck his tongue out, folding the paper up and tucking it in his pocket for later review. "I don't have to be nice. I can beat you up easy!"

The other made a face, eye twitching slightly. "Maybe now, but just wait. I'll get better than you."

"Ha! As if!" Naruto grinned, glad to have diverted attention, at least temporarily, from his scribblings.

The rest of the meal was finished in relative peace and quiet. As they resumed the never-ending march, Naruto dropped to the back and pulled out the paper he'd written stuff on. His eyes roamed the four lists.

Better here Better there Same

DadSasukeKiba

MomSakuraShino

TamaTsunade

KenjiGaara

RaidonShizune

ObitoLee

Gai

Temari

Naruto frowned at the lists. There were two people he couldn't figure out where to put: Ino and Shikamaru. He thought back to the night Shikamaru had told him about Ino's pregnancy.

"_Any way you could go back in time and fix it?"_

_Naruto had remained silent, thinking of the Shikamaru of his world. The lazy one had interrupted his thoughts again, a few minutes later. _

"_I didn't really mean that," he confessed. "This whole thing is just too troublesome. I mean, I don't want anything to happen to the kid or nothing. I guess I wanted to be a father someday anyway, it just happened earlier than expected."_

_Naruto cocked his head. "You're not mad or anything?"_

_Shikamaru shook his head. __"Nah.__ So life screwed up my plans." He shrugged. "It happens. Troublesome at it is, we've just gotta deal. I love Ino and I love the baby, even though I hate how much stress it's putting everyone under."_

"_So," Naruto said. "You want this baby?"_

_Shikamaru considered it for a minute. "Yeah, I do. Like I said, it's earlier than I wanted, but what are you gonna do?"_

_He laid his head down on the table and was silent for a while, to the point where Naruto thought he'd fallen asleep. Then, Shikamaru sighed. "I talked to Ino about it, too. She agrees with me. We're gonna have this baby and raise it."_

Chewing on his lip, Naruto pulled out his pen and added "Ino" and "Shikamaru" to the 'better here' list. Normally, he wouldn't be for teenage pregnancy, and it was still weird to think of his friends in that way, but if Ino and Shikamaru were happy, then who was he to say they were better off in the other world.

Naruto reviewed the list again, seeing that "Better here" was exactly the same as "better there." He stopped walking and stared at the piece of paper.

_You have got to be kidding me! Everything's the same! How? How am I supposed to make a decision?_

Naruto felt like ripping the piece of paper in two until he realized something. _I forgot about me. I suppose I should take myself into consideration, right? _

The blond frowned and considered his options.

_Okay, I've got the old world, where I go to my empty apartment every night and eat instant ramen, where people still cross to the other side of the road to avoid me and I have every psycho in the world after the demon in my belly. _

_Or, I've got this world, where my mom does my laundry and I eat my meals with my family, where I'm respected and I have a girlfriend who I love. _

With a slightly shaking hand, Naruto wrote his own name under 'better here.' Then he pulled back and stared at the list again, something like hope beginning to grow in him.

_So, this world is better than the old one? _Naruto wondered.

_This one is. _

_It's better. _

_That means I let everything stay as it is. _

_That means, _Naruto looked up to where his family was still walking and laughing. _I keep them._

_Is this for real? Can I really keep my family? _

Naruto closed his eyes and bit his lip to keep from crying. Even so, a few tears leaked out. _I have a family now. __A real, legitimate family.__My family._

"Naruto?" His mother was walking back to him, a small line between her eyebrows, indicating her worry. "Nar—are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered truthfully, for the first time in his life. "Absolutely nothing's wrong with me."

Naruto suddenly sprinted forward and wrapped her in a bear hug. "I just feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I love you so much, Mom."

He closed his eyes as she wrapped her arms around him in response and laughed lightly. "I love you, too. Where did this come from?"

Naruto shook his head and smiled to himself. Finally, _finally, _he had someone, he had _people_ that cared for him, loved him, and put him first above everything else. He _belonged. _

"I'm just really, really, happy."

1------------------------------------1

Naruto spent the rest of the trip on Cloud Nine, grinning, laughing, teasing Raidon. For one thing, he had finally figured out what to do about the World-Change box, which took a huge weight off his shoulders, and he'd gotten a real, good family. A mom and dad, brothers and a twin sister, not to mention a whole clan up in the mountains he was related to.

Life was good.

They arrived at the gates to Konoha later that afternoon, and were greeted with grim faces. Naruto's cheer evaporated almost immediately. One of the ninjas guarding the gates drew Meara away from the group and began to whisper in her ear.

Naruto watched closely as worry, relief, fear, anger and sadness flashed across her face. He tried to hear what they were saying, but the whispering ninja noticed and blocked his attempts. Somewhat ticked, Naruto settled for glaring holes in the man's head. Eventually, his mother nodded and came back to the kids.

"Come on," she said quietly. "I'll explain what happened on the way."

"On the way where?" Tama asked, trailing behind Meara as she hurried into the village.

Meara sighed. "The hospital, but don't worry," she assured, noting the sudden alarm on her children's faces. "Your father's okay, he's there for someone else."

"Who?" Kenji asked. "And how did they get hurt?"

"The how they got hurt is complicated," Meara began. "Some of the ANBU, led by Danzou, tried to mutiny."

"Which ninja got hurt?" Naruto asked as they hurried through the street.

"Yamanaka Ino," she answered, all but sprinting up the steps of the hospital.

"Ino?" Tama and Naruto shouted. The twins stared at Meara, eyes wide. Naruto's mind went into denial mode. _But Ino's pregnant. She wouldn't be in the battle, any battle of any kind. No way, she's okay._

Tama grabbed her mother's arm and spun her around. "But Ino shouldn't have been fighting," she protested, putting voice to Naruto's thoughts. "She's pregnant."

"She wasn't fighting," Meara responded. "She was working in her family's flower shop and got caught in the crossfire when one of the ANBU's techniques got out of control."

"How badly was she hurt?" Naruto asked. He had shifted from denial to worry for his friend.

Meara shook her head. "All I know is she's been in the hospital for the past few days and she's in surgery for something now."

Naruto blindly followed his mother through the hospital corridors, his mind clouded with fear and concern. After too many hallways and a few flights of stairs, they arrived in the surgery area, where a small crowd was grouped. Naruto saw his father, Yamanaka Inoichi, Sakura, Hinata, Chouji, Shikamaru and more sitting, standing or pacing. Naruto debated for half a second where to go, then turned and went to sit next to Shikamaru. He looked over the grim faces of his friends gathered around Shikamaru and joined them in the silent vigil.

The clock on the wall ticked, and occasionally, a nurse would come in with nothing to report except that she was still in surgery. Naruto twisted his fingers together and resisted the urge to tap his toe on the ground; the waiting was getting to him.

_Now I know how Dad felt, when they found out there was something wrong with my head. If it was a real enemy, I could fight it to protect my friend, but with this, there's nothing I can do. _

Naruto buried his hands in his hair and closed his eyes. _I can only imagine how hard it must be for Shikamaru. _

After an eternity of nothing, the doctor came out of the room. Everyone stood up at his entrance. The doctor took off his surgical cap and sighed.

Naruto's stomach dropped out.

_Shit. No, no it can't be. _Across the room, any ninja who'd heard that sigh before knew what was coming, but Naruto saw the denial, the rejection in some eyes, especially those of Ino's parents and of Sakura.

He tensed and looked at his feet, waiting for the words that would destroy whatever hope they were still holding to.

"I'm sorry."

Still, they hung in the air, all present knowing the truth.

"You have to say it," Ino's mother whispered. "Or, or I won't believe it." Naruto could hear her breathing, harsh and painful, as if she couldn't draw in enough oxygen.

Again, the doctor sighed. The tension in the room stretched, like a rubber band pulled too taut, until Naruto himself found that he couldn't breathe. His hands clenched at his sides and everything inside him coiled tighter and tighter until he thought he would snap in two from the pressure.

"She's gone."

It exploded, the tension snapped in the room, whipping through the people like a tidal wave. Naruto heard the choked sobs from Ino's mother and Sakura, felt more than saw the trembling of Shikamaru beside him, and burned with the need to cry, to shout, to do _something. _

He closed his eyes and saw, like a slideshow on his eyelids, pictures, memories of all of his friends: Ino and Sakura, laughing like loons at something, immediately turning to bickering over whose hair was prettier; Sasuke, eye twitching somewhat psychotically, panting heavily after one of their sparring matches; Gaara, shaking Naruto's hand after he'd been brought back to life; Temari with her fan spread out to show all three moons; Shikamaru, poised over a shoji board, hands and eyes showing his contemplation.

Naruto felt the pressure building in his chest again, but this was a different kind. More and more the images came to him of his friends, his _other _family, happy, smiling, content, alive.

He realized that all the people that he had labeled "Better Here" were dead in the other world. _Yeah, that sucks, _he thought, _but they're not in pain. _

He saw Sakura sagging against Tenten and Hinata, sobbing. _Not like that. _

_In fact, the only person who suffers in the old world that's better here is me. _

_But all of my friends who are hurting here are better off there. _

_So, do I choose my happiness?_

_Or my friends'?_

_Oh._

_Damn. _

There was no choice.

Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms. He bit his lip until it bled and all the while something inside him was vibrating, trembling, so close to shattering into a million pieces.

_Why?_

"Naruto?"

He looked into the face of his father.

_No, no. _

Concerned blue eyes exactly like his peered through the same yellow spikes. "Are you okay?"

Naruto tried to breathe, tried to calm down, but the part of him that was ready to break into shards was starting to crack and once that fell apart, he would, too.

"What's wrong?" Naruto saw vaguely a warm, scarred hand come up to his shoulder. That touch did it.

As the thing—which he'd discovered was his heart—split, Naruto turned and sprinted out of the hospital, finding the nearest opening to the air and taking it out. He ran as far and as fast as he could, away from the hospital and the death, away from the truth of what he had to do, but mostly away from the warmth, the warmth that he would turn down, destroy, kill.

He ran through the woods, his body lighter than air, his heart heavy.

_Why? WHY? _

Naruto tripped over something and fell to his knees, scraping and banging them up in the process.

_It's not fair! _He raged. His heart hurt, physically, emotionally, threatening to rip itself out of his chest and run away, leaving him alone, as he always was.

With an inarticulate cry of fury, Naruto leaped to his feet and smashed his fist into a tree, bloodying his knuckles and creating a crater in the wood. He rampaged through the forest he'd stopped in, blindly ramming any part of his body into any thing he could find.

Pain rocketed through his arms, his legs, his head, ribs, stomach, everywhere; the individual pains shooting through him and bouncing off each other, feeding themselves and increasing until he was nothing but hurt and anger in human form.

Still, he attacked.

When his fists were mangled and broken, and his feet bruised and no longer able to support him, Naruto collapsed to his knees again.

The forest around him was silent and destroyed. He had scared off all of the animals with his anger and demolished anything that couldn't move.

_Why? _"Why?" He gasped, his voice hoarse from the screaming and the crying. "Why can't I get something that's _mine?_ That I don't have to fight for or feel guilty about getting?"

He pounded the ground in front of him with his useless fists. "Why can't I be selfish? Why can't I say 'screw you world, I'm taking what I deserve!'"

"Why do you cheat me out of anything good I _ever have?" _Naruto suddenly howled at the heavens, as if they could give him answers.

"Why can't I have something that's mine?"

"Why can't I belong?"

"_WHY?"_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Naruto woke up in his bed, his arms, feet and knees bandaged tightly. He felt familiar chakra leftover tingling in the wounds and knew his mother had healed them. Slowly, raised his hands so that they were in front of his face and stared at the white wrappings.

_Someone must have found me after I fell asleep or passed out, whichever it was. __Probably Dad . . . the Fourth, or the ANBU._

He resisted the urge to rip the bandages off his skin and destroy more stuff.

_No, I need my hands. I have to have them healthy to destroy the box and set everything right again. _

He let his hands fall back to the bed, ignoring the small sparks of pain that shot up them at the contact.

_I never thought I'd regret all the bonds I'd made back home,_ he thought ruefully, forcing himself to slowly sit up.

_I was so happy to have friends, to have people that I loved and who loved me in return. Never thought it would come back to bite me in the ass so bad. _

Naruto stood, wincing as his knees and feet protested the movement. Looking back, his temper tantrum last night wasn't that good of an idea.

_No kidding. _Again, he wanted to go break things, mostly himself, but fought it down._Think__ like a shinobi now. _

_This is an A-ranked mission. My friends' lives depend on finding that object and destroying it. _

_To destroy it, I need to use my _Areah Broah _in the same way as my chakra. I'll need Mom--damn, uh, Meara, to teach me that. _

He limped into the bathroom. _If she's going to do that, she needs to trust me. I think I can pass off last night as a reaction to Ino's death, and my sudden interest in training as the need to get stronger because of that._

As he brushed his teeth, Naruto considered his options for finding the device. _I need time when I can escape and perform the spells on my own. When am I going to get that? Dad will be watching pretty closely after last night's performance, and I'll have guards in case any rogue ANBU lived through the battle. _

As Naruto made his way back to the bedroom to get dressed, he smacked himself at his stupidity. "Shadow clones, duh!" _I'll create a shadow clone to do the training and I'll go off somewhere and do the spells. As long as the thing doesn't poof away, no one will really know. _

Slowly, he pulled off his pajamas and slipped into some comfortable ninja clothes. "Might as well start with the performance," he muttered, tying his hair back. "I've always been a good actor."

_I have? What the hell? _Naruto shook it off as one of those random thoughts and walked downstairs. "Hellooooo?" he called. "Anybody up right now?"

Meara peeked her head out of the kitchen. "Hey, you're up! How are you feeling?"

"Like I got beat up by a forest," he answered.

She came over and stroked her hand through his hair. He tried not to lean into her touch too much. _No, that's bad. I'll be leaving her, bad. _Naruto closed his eyes and thought again of his friends, trying to steel himself for the inevitable heartbreak.

"You'll be okay," she whispered, leaning down and pressing her lips to his forehead.

_No, I won't. _"Yeah, eventually," he agreed, forcing down the lump in his throat. _I've got to change everything quick, or I'll lose my nerve. _"So, I was wondering, when would you be willing to train me with my spirit energy?"

Meara frowned as she began to spoon eggs onto a plate for him. "I don't know. Are you sure you want to work yourself? You were pretty upset last night."

"I know, but I want to get stronger, so I can protect all of my other friends," Naruto enthused. "Please!"

"Alright," she sighed, placing the plate of food in front of him. "We'll start later tomorrow with some basic training, then we can move on, okay?"

Naruto nodded excitedly and shoveled food into his mouth. _This is one thing I'll miss. She can cook. _

"Uh, do you want to know about the funeral?" Meara asked softly.

Naruto froze with his food half-way up to his mouth. "No," he decided. "Not now. Right now, I don't want to think about it. Any of it. At all. I just want to do something."

Meara nodded, understanding. "Obito figured your team might feel that way. You're meeting at training field three, if you want to go find them," she told him. "But don't do anything to reinjure your hands or feet."

When he was done with his second helping, Meara did another quick healing session on his limbs to make sure no infections were developing, then sent him off to find his team.

The teen walked slowly to the training grounds where, apparently, Ryo, Kiba and Akamaru, and Obito were waiting for him. "I hope we're not doing anything too strenuous today," he muttered, inspecting his bruised hands.

He sighed and again kicked himself for hurting his hands last night. "I suppose I could still do spells and stuff for tracking," he murmured. "But I can't move my fingers fast enough for any decent jutsus."

Naruto eventually made it to training ground five, every pebble and rock hurting his feet through the sandals. Ryo and Kiba were sparring fiercely, Kiba losing. Naruto determined that Akamaru was angry at Kiba for something, because although it looked like he was fighting with Kiba, he was actually just dancing around the edges and barking at inappropriate times to distract Kiba. _Wonder what happened. Kiba and Akamaru never fight. _

The blonde wandered up to Obito. "Hey. Want me to join?"

Obito shook his head. "No, you'll be working on your elemental chakra today."

"My elemental chakra?" Naruto wondered. _What does that have to do with anything? _

"Your dad asked me to start you out," Obito explained, rummaging through his pockets for something. "It has something to do with your kekkai genkai, apparently. It also will allow your hands to heal from the beating you gave them yesterday."

"Ah," Naruto muttered. "So how do we figure out what my elemental chakra is?" _By putting chakra into this card made from some old trees. _

Obito grinned and whipped out little cards. "These are pieces of bark from some of the oldest trees in Konoha, the ones created by the first Hokage himself! Just channel some chakra into it and whatever it does will tell us what your elemental chakra is." He thrust the special bits at Naruto.

"Tell us?" Naruto questioned, taking the square doubtfully. "Will it spell out one of the elements on the bark or something?"

"No! Of course not," Obito laughed. "Just stick some chakra in and I'll show you, okay?"

Naruto sighed, pretending to still be confused. "Whatever. I don't know what this would have to do with anything."

Obito twitched in annoyance. "You'll see, just channel some of your chakra into it."

Naruto sighed, but did as he was told. The paper glowed blue for a minute, then sliced neatly up the middle. He feigned surprise. "What does that mean?"

"It means your chakra is wind-based," Obito explained, taking the bark back and looking it over. "Interesting. I wouldn't have expected that."

"Why?" Naruto asked. _Because it's rare, right? I know, Kakashi told me. _

"Well, for one thing, wind element is quite rare, you don't see it too often," Obito said, scratching his chin. "And I guess it's pretty ironic, too."

"Why?" Naruto asked again.

Obito grinned again. "I guess I should explain to you how the elemental chakras work, huh? For starters, there are five elements that chakra is based on: fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. Each of these elements suppresses and is suppressed in turn by another element."

"Huh?" Naruto wondered, staring at the older man in mock confusion. "How does that work?"

"Think of it this way," Obito ordered. "Fire burns wind. Wind cuts lightning. Lightning breaks earth. Earth dilutes water. Water extinguishes fire. See how it all works? Each element is greater to another in some respect, but at the same time, is less than a different one."

"Hmmm," Naruto mused on that. _Well, I knew about the suppressing thing, but not in the specific way it worked. That's interesting. _"But that doesn't explain why my wind chakra is ironic."

Obito laughed. "Your father's strongest element is lightning," he chuckled. "Figure it out."

Naruto frowned as he considered Obito's words. _My dad's natural element is lightning, huh? _"Okay, but even though lightning is in a way inferior to wind, it doesn't mean I'm stronger than him or anything," Naruto argued.

"Of course not," Obito agreed. "But it does mean that you will be stronger than him in some areas."

"Whatever," Naruto snapped. Inside, he was contemplating. _Well, Kakashi did say that someday I could surpass the Fourth. I already have, I combined my wind element with the Rasengan. __Even though it's incomplete._

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts when Obito thrust a shiny green leaf in front of his face. "Huh?" he asked stupidly. _Aw, man. The leaf exercise again. I kept passing out when Kakashi made me do it. _

"You need to use your chakra to cut it in half," Obito explained.

Sighing, the teen reached up and plucked the vegetation out of his teacher's hand. _But I did this already. _An idea popped into Naruto's head. "Hey, Obito," he called.

"Yeah?"

"What are the chances of me making a cut in this leaf in one day?" Naruto asked, the evil plan forming.

Obito laughed. "You have two chances of cutting that leaf in one day," he stated. "Slim and fat."

"I bet I will," Naruto challenged.

"Oh, really? You wanna make that a real bet?" Obito asked, grinning at the blond.

Naruto grinned back. "Sure, why not?"

"Alright, if you haven't made a decent cut in that leaf by the end of today, you have to write all my mission reports for the next month," he stated, smiling at the thought of a month without reports.

"Okay," Naruto agreed. "But if there is, you buy me all I can eat at Ichiraku's tonight."

"Deal."

They shook on it, Obito being careful of Naruto's injured hand. The jounin turned to keep an eye on the other two, as Naruto slowly sat down and put the leaf between his palms.

_Split my chakra into two and grind the edges together. _Naruto followed Asuma's instructions and ground his chakra together until the borders were fine and sharp. Then he began to grind it even harder, getting the cutting edge even sharper. He slowly sliced it one inch into the leaf, stopping just short of the big vein running up the center of it.

Naruto stopped and inspected the leaf. To the naked eye, it looked like the leaf was untouched, but Naruto twisted it to reveal the incredibly fine cut through it. He grinned.

_I am __sooooo__ getting ramen tonight! _

Until evening, Naruto continued the training, working on making the cuts smaller and thinner. At one point, he was able to make multiple chakra blades and slice it, but they weren't as fine as the single blade cuts. Nonetheless, by the time he stopped, the edges of the leaf were shredded, but so delicately that unless you looked close or moved them, the leaf looked whole.

Naruto noticed Obito calling an end to Kiba and Akamaru's training. _Show time._He quickly made a big, sloppy, obvious cut, about half an inch into the leaf to show Obito.

"Well?" Obito asked, folding his arms.

"I hope you brought your wallet," Naruto replied, showing him the split leaf.

The man's dark eyes nearly bugged out. "What?! You-you actually made a cut in the leaf? That size? In one day?"

Naruto nodded proudly. "Yup. To Ichiraku's!"

Obito hung his head. "Damn. There goes my paycheck."

1----------------------------1

That night, Naruto sprawled out on his bed, notes, scrolls and books spread out around him. The reading material was all from GG, in the bag of stuff Naruto had had to lug all the way back to Konoha with him.

"Okay," he muttered, scribbling things down. Even though he didn't have Kyuubi's healing powers, his mother had been healing him periodically since he got home. _In a day or so, I'll be able to do jutsus. Until then, I had better stick with spells. _

"Until I can leave Konoha and protect myself," he said, looking over all of his notes. "I need big, basic spells to tell me the general area where the stupid thing is."

He scanned through the scrolls of spells GG had sent him. "This one could work," he decided. "But I need a map."

Naruto leaned against the wall. "Where would I find a map of the world? . . . Duh! Dad's office. He _should_have a map of the world here, right?"

He scrambled to his feet and hurried up the stairs. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he heard Obito's voice from inside.

_What's Obito doing here? __Probably telling Dad about our bet.__ I hope he mentions how he lost it! _Naruto snickered and leaned in, trying to hear.

"Are you sure?" His father's voice, cool and almost angry.

"Of course I'm sure. He left in on the Ichiraku counter after we ate. I wanted to feel it for myself, so I picked it up."

"And noticed this."

"Yeah. I have never seen anything like it. Unless someone's been teaching him on his own, there is no possible way that a novice could have this much skill."

" . . . Did you ever teach him the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

"Shadow clone? No, that's way too advanced for him."

"He knows it."

"What?"

"And when I asked him about it, he said that you had taught him."

"Me? No way. I suck at that jutsu myself, how would I teach it to Naruto? And why?"

"I don't know. I just don't know. This puts things into a whole new light."

"I don't understand, sensei. What are you talking about?"

"Just . . . a bunch of small things I've noticed. On their own, they're nothing, but if you add to the fact that he's much stronger than we thought and that he's been lying about it . . ."

"What are you thinking, sensei?"

"I don't know, Obito. I wish I knew, but I don't."

Naruto lowered his fist and turned around. _Shoot. They suspect something. I have to be more careful. _With a sigh, he turned and went back to his room.

Chapter 34

Naruto was halfway back to his room when the door behind him opened and Obito emerged. He cringed, knowing there was no way to hide the fact that he'd been listening at the door.

"Naruto?"

_Damn. _The teen turned slowly and grinned at Obito. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

He just barely caught a flash of movement as Obito stuck something green in his pocket. _What was that? It must have been whatever gave them a clue._

_Green, green?_

_The leaf! _

_Dammit__, the leaf I shredded during training. I was showing it off and left it on Ichiraku's counter. _

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Obito asked. "You had some pretty hard training today, you should be resting."

Naruto ignored the hints and shrugged. "I was just wondering if my dad had a map I could use."

Obito frowned in confusion. "What would you need a map for?"

"Just a project I'm working on," he explained. _Well, it's not exactly a lie. _

Before the stilted conversation could continue, Minato stuck his head out the door. "What's this about a map?"

"Naruto needs one for a project he's working on," Obito said, his voice saying more than his words.

Minato frowned and stepped fully into the hallway. "Really? What kind of project?"

_Damn. He would have to ask, wouldn't he? Of course, just as they start to suspect something, I bring up that I need a map. What for? Oh, nothing, just to destroy the world and more or less __kill__ you._

_Do I really have to? _

"Nothing, it's not important," Naruto lied, wishing to get away from the piercing blue eyes. "I'm just tired, I'll go to bed."

With that, he turned and made for his room again, but Minato's voice interrupted him. "Naruto, I've got a quick question before you go to bed."

"Yeah?" Naruto spun again. "What is it?"

"Before we left, you made some, ah, corrections to some paperwork of mine," Minato said, an almost smile playing across his lips. "Do you remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Naruto chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "What about it?"

Minato held up a certain piece of paper that Naruto recognized as the kindergarten mission he'd reassigned. He fought down a smirk. _I hope Neji enjoyed that assignment. _

"Well, you reassigned the mission from 'Hinata Hyuuga' to 'Neji Hyuuga,'" Minato said.

"Uh-huh. What about it?"

Minato stared at him. "Well, the only problem was that there is no record of a Neji Hyuuga."

"What?" _No record. What the hell does that mean?_

The Hokage nodded. "Yes, I checked all birth records, civilian and shinobi. 'Neji Hyuuga' was never born," he finished.

Naruto stared at his father. _Neji was never born? __First __Gaara__, then Neji?__ What? _Outside, he kept his composure, coming up with a semi-believable lie almost immediately. "Oh, sorry. I got the wrong name, I guess. I just thought it would be funny to see a stuck-up Hyuuga babysitting kids. Sorry about that."

With that, Naruto all but fled into his room. He threw himself down on his bed and buried his face in his arms.

_I don't want to do this. This sucks. Why do I have to give up my family? Why?_

Naruto snapped his head up as a knock came at his door. "Who is it?"

"'smee," Raidon's small voice came through the wood.

"Come on in," Naruto gave in. The boy opened the door and slipped in. With a sigh, Naruto allowed him to clamber into bed with him. "What's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare and Daddy's not happy," he whimpered. "He's really angry about something. He keeps muttering about impostors and you. What's going on?"

Naruto sighed. "Do you trust me?"

Raidon nodded against Naruto's arm.

"Then don't worry. Everything will be okay," he whispered, the lie burning his throat. "Just go to sleep."

"'kay," Raidon agreed. Within minutes, his breathing and heartbeat evened out and Naruto knew his was asleep.

The teen closed his eyes. _Do I have to? _

_Maybe I don't. __maybe__ I made the list wrong, maybe there's somebody I missed that can change things. _

_Maybe . . . _

Carefully, so as not to disturb Raidon, Naruto poofed a clone into existence. The clone scrambled over and began to re-make a list on the desk.

Naruto ignored the clone and let himself hope and relax.

_Maybe . . . _

After a few minutes, the clone came back over and shoved the paper in front of Naruto's face. There were quite a few modifications. Naruto interpreted the arrows and lists.

_So, in this world, __Temari__ and Ino are dead, in the other world, Dad and Obito are. _

_I don't really know about Mom and Tama, so I don't know how to factor it in but the same goes for Kyuubi of this world._

_In this world, Neji and __Gaara__ don't exist, but in the old world, Kenji and Raidon never existed._

_So, in the old world, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, __Kankuro__, Tsunade, Jiraya, Gai, Lee, and Shikamaru._

_In the old world, who's better?_

_Me. _

_That's it. I'm really the only one better in this world, when everyone is factored in. _

Naruto's arm unconsciously tightened around Raidon.

_But,_

_But ._

----------------------------------------------

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Naruto pulled his head out of the clouds and looked at his mother. "Huh?"

Meara put her spatula down. "You didn't ask for thirds. Something's wrong."

Naruto shifted, feeling his father's eyes boring into him. _Everything I do now will seem suspicious. __Great._ "Oh, it's nothing," he lied. "I'm just not hungry this morning."

"Uh-huh."

The teen put on his Innocent Face. "But really!"

"Yeah . . ." Meara put another plate in front of him. "If you want me to train you, eat more. I'm not an easy instructor."

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto began to cheerfully shovel food into his mouth, purposely avoiding looking at his father.

_I wish I could tell you, _he thought, half-wishing his father was telepathic. _I wish you could help me. _

After breakfast, Naruto followed his mother out to the training grounds.

"Okay, Grandpa taught you how to access your _AreahBroah_" Meara began. "Now, it's my job to teach you how to use it."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I know a little bit of how to control it," he added. "He had me do a tree-walking-like exercise."

Meara acknowledged that and thought for a little while. "Well, I suppose the best way would be to have you start doing basic jutsus and spells with _AreahBroah_ The biggest problem would be keeping you from using your chakra."

She thought for a little while, brow knit in concentration. Naruto took a deep breath and watched her. _So, this is where I get my obliviousness from. _After about a minute, she snapped her fingers. "Okay, you wait here and start molding your spirit energy."

Naruto watched as she turned and ran back to the house, a rather perplexed expression on his face. "Oookay. Whatever."

Just a few minutes later, she came back out, Minato in tow. Naruto stopped his concentration and watched as his mother dragged her husband forward.

"Uh . . ." Minato raised his eyebrow.

"I need you to seal his chakra," Meara explained. "So that he can only use spirit energy during his training."

Naruto blinked. "Why can't you do it, Mom?"

"You're father's much better at seals," she explained. "Now, go on, seal away."

Minato sighed and looked at Naruto. He could practically see the thoughts running through his head. _He's thinking if he can seal my chakra, if I'm a threat, I'll be neutralized, at a huge disadvantage. _Naruto smiled brightly. "So, how do we do this?"

"Lift up your shirt," Minato commanded. "It's easiest to seal it that way."

Naruto almost hesitated, an instinctive concealment of the _Shiki __Fujin_kicking in, but in the end, he pulled up his shirt and allowed his father access to his stomach. Minato's eyes seemed to sharpen as he started to go through the handsigns.

Before Naruto could really blink or protest, Minato pressed his glowing hand into his son's stomach. Naruto gasped and his legs gave way as all of his chakra was sucked into a tiny little box and locked away. He remembered Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and almost had a panic attack before his mother's voice pulled him out of it.

"Naruto? You okay?"

The blond raised his head and nodded. "Yeah, that's just a really weird feeling. I'll be okay." He pulled himself to his feet and brushed off his now-dusty pants.

"Is that all?" Minato asked.

Meara nodded and pecked him on the lips. "Yeah. Are you gonna drown in paperwork?"

"Only if you'll give me mouth-to-mouth," he answered with a grin. Meara laughed in response and gave him a shove back to the house.

"Okay, kiddo," she said, ignoring the way Minato wiggled his butt at her as he walked. "We'll start with some basic molding techniques."

Naruto made a face. "Like water or tree walking."

Meara chuckled. "Well, sorta. But slightly more interesting. Follow me."

She took off leaping through the trees. Naruto took a deep breath and followed her, keeping pace with the flow of blonde hair. "You know, the last time I heard that, I got my butt zapped for hours."

She laughed again and landed by the lake. "I'm going to teach you the most basic spell of the Churaeah."

Naruto frowned. "But I need to learn—"

"I know," she interrupted. "But this will help you mold your spirit energy better. You'll need to do that expertly before you can use it in jutsus. Okay?"

"Uh, how long will it take me to do all of this?" Naruto wondered, hoping that it wouldn't take too long. He was on something of a schedule.

Meara shrugged. "Depends on how hard you work," she answered.

Naruto grinned. "Well then. Let's get started!"

------------------------------------------------

"Had enough yet?"

"Shut . . ." Naruto coughed up some water. " . . . up."

He crawled onto the surface of the water and spit out some water, gasping desperately for breath. His clothes were covered in mud and sticking to him, his hair was dripping with he didn't want to know what, and he had swallowed more lake water than he'd ever believed possible. He shoved the hair out of his face and glared up at his mother.

"I . . . hate . . ." He gasped desperately for breath and pulled some algae out of his ear. "You."

Meara laughed again. She was warm and dry, arms folded and lips curled up in a smirk. Naruto watched her feet carefully, just before she did the spell, she always shifted her left foot slightly.

_There! _Just as her foot switched, Naruto threw himself backwards, sliding along the water, feet glowing green slightly. He drew on his spirit energy and shouted the words for the counterspell. "_Ieraarjorauhuarayearau__!"_

He finished a split second after his mother. The whirlpool that her spell had begun to form started to dissolve with Naruto's shout. Meara's green eyes flashed. "Oh, no you don't."

She brought her hands up, palm to palm, and poured more energy into her spell. Her green irises glowed and expanded into the rest of her eyes until both of her eyes were completely green. The whirlpool grew in strength and swirled faster, destroying Naruto's spell.

"Dammit!"

He tried to reform it, but Meara's whirlpool was too strong and Naruto was sucked under before he could finish it.

_Damn! I was so close that time, too! _Naruto pushed spirit energy into his lungs, doing a basic underwater-breathing exercise. _She strengthened it at the last minute. _

Naruto was floating under water, not bothering to come up. _She said that we could go home when I got her under the water. _

_She never said I had to wait for her to make her move. _

Naruto swam under his mother, concealing his spirit energy carefully. With the last air in his lungs, he shouted out the words to the spell, watching the air bubbles float out of his mouth. The whirlpool started to swirl around her feet. Naruto smirked as her saw her surprised expression. She tried to run from the center of the vortex.

_Oh, no you don't!_ Naruto sped through some handsigns. _Monkey, bird, bird, cow, dog! Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu! _

A huge wall of water sprung up where Meara was trying to run. Even Naruto's eyes popped out at it's size.

_Holy crap! That's a lot bigger than when I usually do it! _

Unable to run, Meara was caught in the whirlpool Naruto had created. He saw her shout some swear words before she was sucked under the surface of the water. Grinning, Naruto let the spell dissipate and swam up to the surface, pulling himself up onto it, breathing in the air.

A split second later, Meara broke the surface of the water and dragged herself onto it. Naruto grinned at her. "Well, can we go home now?"

"Did you do that jutsu with your spirit energy?" Meara asked, her eyes wide.

Naruto nodded. "I guess so. I just did it on my own."

Meara grinned at him. "Is it always that strong?"

"Nope." Naruto shook his head.

"Good work! Let's go get supper now." Naruto smiled at his mother. They walked back as the sun began to set.

_Tomorrow, I can start working on the Spirit energy Rasengan. _

The smile faded from his face.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

"Naruto, come here!"

He looked up from his reading and followed his mother's voice. Despite Minato's suspicions, Naruto had been allowed to look through the library in search of a map. He had found several that would suit his purposes, and was now randomly browsing the books.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, stepping into the study. Right now, Minato was sitting on a couch, with Meara cuddled in his lap. Tama was on one side, Kenji was on the other and Raidon was jumping around behind them, chanting that he wanted to see.

"I was going through some old photo albums and found pictures of your father and I around the time we first met," Meara explained. "Come look."

Naruto wandered around to the back of the couch and knelt, looking over Minato's shoulder. "Hah! That was you, Dad?"

Naruto was pointing to a certain picture where Minato was standing in a river. He had a fishing pole in one hand and a fish in the other, not to mention one in his mouth. The part Naruto was laughing at was the tadpole stuck in the blond spikes and the lack of shirt he was sporting.

"Oh, god," Minato put his face in his hand.

"You were _really _skinny back then weren't you?" Meara teased. "I think you can make out each of his ribs in this picture."

"My favorite is the tadpole," Tama chuckled.

"_I __wanna__seeeeeeee__!" _Raidon whined.

Naruto reached over the couch, grabbed him and set the boy on his shoulder. "There, happy now?"

"Uh-huh!" Raidon burst into a fit of giggles at the picture they were pointing at. "There's a tadpole in your hair, Daddy!"

Minato sighed.

Meara laughed and took pity, turning the page. "There, poor thing."

"This is why I married you," he said, kissing her again.

Three of their children made yucky noises, but Naruto was staring at a picture on the next page. It was of a young man with long, rich red hair and golden eyes. He had sharp canines and a dangerous, mischievous grin. He was leaning against a tree, arms folded and legs crossed. The picture had been taken in the middle of a forest, with the light and shadows playing over his face. Just at the bottom of the picture, woven between his legs, a small red fox peeked up at the camera. Naruto squinted at the picture.

_He's so familiar! _

"Hey, Mom, who is that?" he asked, pointing at the boy.

"Oh, that's Hideharu," she answered. "You remember I told you about him. He was there when your father and I first met. But I haven't heard from him in years. Do you recall where he went, Minato?"

Minato nodded. "Yes, he fell in love, but his, ah, wife couldn't live in Konoha, so he left the village to be with her," he answered, playing with Meara's soft hair. "Don't you remember?"

"Now I do," she said. "Didn't he have a small li—family last time we saw him?"

"Yeah. His wife had had triplets. They were all very cute," Minato answered.

"Huh. He seems familiar," Naruto said, staring intently at the cocky-looking boy in the picture.

Meara frowned. "That doesn't make sense. We haven't seen him since before you were born," she remarked. "I wonder why you'd recognize him."

"I don't recognize him," Naruto corrected. "I just said he looked familiar to me. But I can't place him."

"Well, enough on that picture," Minato decided, flipping the page.

"Dad?" Naruto asked, several hours later. The rest of the family had gone to bed, Naruto was just gathering his maps and a few scrolls he'd found interesting.

Minato raised his head. "Yeah?"

"Look, I know that I've been acting strange," Naruto began. Minato's face went blank at that. He knew where this was going.

"Yes, what about it?"

Naruto gulped. "I have an explanation. Will you hear me out?"

Minato nodded. "Sit down."

With a sigh, Naruto sat down slowly, trying to figure out how he was going to explain everything. "Uh, okay, when I was born, Kyuubi attacked and was sealed in me, which gave me tons of power and access to his chakra, so when somebody wanted to change the world with an ancient device, they pulled Kyuubi's power out of me and everything changed and I'm the only one who remembers. The only thing is that I need to set the world back because it's better there. That's why I've been acting all weird."

Naruto rested his chin on his fists and stared at the floor. His father's silence was deafening, oppressing.

"Okay, what?" Minato asked.

Sighing again, Naruto explained the story in full, more slowly. When he was finished, Minato reached up and rubbed his chin.

"Okay, I think I understand it all," Minato said, eyes staring into the middle distance. "Now, I have a question about Kyuubi. Who sealed him in you and how?"

Naruto toed the ground with his shoe. "The fourth Hokage of my world," he admitted. "With the _Shiki __Fujin_"

"_Shiki __Fujin_?!" Minato started, eyes wide. "But that—"

"Yeah," Naruto interrupted. "He died in my world."

"What about your mother? Your sister?" Minato demanded.

Naruto shrugged. "I have no idea. I grew up without a family."

Minato stood and ran a hand through his hair. "Your mother, she would never have left you to grow up on your own. She must be dead if you grew up alone."

The words sent a pang through Naruto's heart. _So, I'll be alone in that world same as before, then. _

"And if I died when you were born, your brothers would have never been born, right?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"So, in your world, the difference is in this family. This family is completely broken in the original world you _say _you came from," Minato concluded. He spun around and faced Naruto. "Why?"

"Why what?" Naruto asked, hating the look on his father's face.

"Why would you destroy this family?" Minato demanded. "What could be so wonderful in that world that you would get rid of this family?"

Naruto stuttered, trying to find a response in the face of the Hokage's wrath. "I—I"

"Answer me!"Minato hissed, coming up and slamming his hands on either side of Naruto. His voice was quiet, whiplike. Naruto wanted to sink into the floor. _"Answer me!" _

Still, Naruto couldn't find his voice.

"Nothing!" Minato answered for him. "Nothing could be more important than my family! I will not let you destroy it!"

"But—" _It wasn't supposed to go like this! _

"NO!" Minato snapped, silencing all protests. "I will protect my family."

Blue chakra began to swirl in his palm. "Am I clear?"

_"No!" _

Naruto sat up in bed, his heart pounding hard in his chest.

"It was a dream." He whispered, grabbing his sheets to remind himself that he was safe in his bed and that his father wasn't attacking him. "It was a dream."

A knock came at the door. Naruto pushed himself onto shaky legs and pulled it open to reveal his mother standing there, clearly worried. "Honey? Are you okay?"

Naruto nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I just had a little bit of a bad dream, that's all."

"Alright," she said, not convinced. "If you need anything, come and get me."

He nodded again, feeling distinctly like a bobble head doll. "Sure thing."

Once the door was shut and Naruto was sure she wasn't listening at the door, he slumped against it, rubbing a hand over his face. "He wouldn't do that. My dad wouldn't do that."

Naruto sat down slowly at his desk, staring at the maps spread out. "That was just my stupid mind running crazy. He wouldn't do that. Never."

Yet, his hands still shook as he rearranged the maps. He set the one of Konoha on top, specifically the area above the Hokage Monument. "Okay, at least I won't have to travel far to destroy this thing."

The thought of destroying it and his family burned his heart and his eyes, but Naruto stuffed the feelings deep down and concentrated on the maps. "That's probably what the dream was about. Part of me doesn't want to destroy this family."

_My family._

Naruto shook his head and pulled a small crystal on a string out of the pack that GG had given him. He put a small amount of spirit energy into it and said a quick locator chant. The crystal swung in a circle around the map, suddenly zeroing in on one area, spinning quickly. Naruto immediately cut the flow of _AreahBroah_he'd already drilled a couple of holes in his desk that way. He pulled it out of the way and brushed the paper shavings off the desk.

He put his finger on the spot that the spell had indicated. "So, that's where I start, huh?"

It was approximately the same place he'd stumbled across it in the other world. _I guess that makes sense. I looked for it there a while ago, I remember. But it was hidden with some spells, so I couldn't find it. _

With that thought in mind, Naruto began to hunt through his books and scrolls for spells to help him see hidden things, or something of that nature. He flipped through the books, scanning for anything and everything that was useful.

"Spells to make your hair thick, definitely don't need that. Chants to make someone smell bad, heh. I'll have to look at that one later. . . spells to open portals."

Naruto frowned down at the page. "To open portals? Portals to where?"

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't find out, as he promptly and suddenly fell asleep on top of his books.

Naruto growled in frustration as the spirit energy Rasengan dissipated with a giant, harmless explosion. "Dammit! I've been working on this all day! Why won't it work?"

With another snarl for good measure, he punched the tree nearest him hard. "Dad would probably be able to help me," he muttered.

He kicked at a rock on the ground as the nightmare flashed before his eyes. Naruto shook his head vigorously to get rid of it. "No, I know he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. I trust him."

_So why can't I go to him? _

Naruto threw himself down on the ground and glared at the clouds. "I dunno why Shika likes this so much," he muttered. "It's boring as hell. Gonna put me to sleep."

The Chuunin shoved himself to his feet, legs jumpy and chest tight. He started with a few basic taijutsu kicks, but found that those weren't enough to calm the feeling of restlessness, so he started to jog through the woods. Soon, he kicked it up to a run, but within minutes, Naruto was all-out sprinting among the trees, hurdling over fallen logs and rocks, pushing his legs far out of their comfort zone, to the point where he couldn't even feel them anymore.

Finally, he sprinted up the side of the Hokage monument, collapsing on top of his father's large, stone head.

_Weird, it started more or less here . . . how long ago? _

_How long have I been here? Four weeks? __Five?_

_Feels like forever. _

_I can barely remember what it was like before. __In the old __world.Without__ them._

_My __apartment.Three__ rooms, counting the bathroom as one.__ Half the time Kyuubi would keep me up all night with angry rants, meaningless lectures, or . . ._

Naruto shuddered as he thought of the nine-tailed fox's worst torture device. _Polka music._

_But, beyond that.__ It's hard to remember details. Did I have any posters on my walls? __Pictures?_

_I . . . I don't remember. _

Naruto frowned as he realized what that meant. "I'm running out of time. Crap. If I can't remember, that means this world is setting itself. I need to fix things, and fast."

The blond sat up and started to stretch out his legs, vividly recalling the last time he'd forgotten to do that. "That means I need to get to work on the _AreahBroah_Rasengan right away. Which means I'll need Dad's help."

The Namikaze house loomed against the twilight sky, or so it seemed to Naruto, who was still nervous about confessing to his father. "Maybe, I just won't tell him everything," Naruto said. "I'll just tell him. . . damn. How will I explain that I know Rasengan without telling him I'm from the other world?"

Naruto rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "But, then can I tell him I'm from another universe, sorta, but not tell him that he's dead in that world? That would be lying to him. Could I do that?"

Gulping loudly, he pushed open the front door and glanced around. "Hello?"

He started toward the kitchen, but noticed an envelope on the table marked with his name. Or what he thought was his name. "Damn. Dad's got terrible handwriting."

With a sigh, Naruto pulled open the envelope and scanned the letter, then reread it.

_Naruto, _

_I wish I could talk to you in person, but an emergency came up in one of the outposts and I'll be gone for the next few days._

_When we get back, I want to talk to you about your weird behavior. For a couple of days, I wondered if you were an impostor, posing as Naruto to get at me, but your mother told me that you can use _Areah Broah, _so you must be my Naruto. _

_That doesn't explain what's been going on with you. I still want some answers and will expect them upon my return._

_I love you._

_Dad_

"This day just keeps getting better," Naruto snapped.

"What's wrong?" Kenji asked, stepping into the doorway.

Naruto shrugged. "Nothing much," he lied. "I just wanted to talk to Dad about something. That's all."

"Uh-huh. You missed supper," the boy stated, staring intently at Naruto.

"I'll go get Ichiraku's," Naruto said, turning around and walking back out the door. "Tell Mom I'll be back late."

_So, for the next few days, at least, I'm on my own. _

Naruto sighed heavily. _Might as well train some more._

Without a backwards glance, Naruto took off in the direction of the trees, setting up a shadow clone as a distraction for the ANBU guards. He landed in an unused part of the forest, a secluded section of trees that he'd discovered completely by accident in the old world.

Green energy began to swirl in his palm, gathering in power and speed. With a roar, Naruto drew back and slammed it into the nearest tree bark, only to have it lose concentration and dissipate.

Snarling, he prepared another one.

By morning, the trees were covered with spirals from failed attempts and one blond-haired boy was sprawled in the center of it all, completely unconscious. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked to one tree in particular, where a deep hole had been carved by something very powerful and very round.

He grinned. "Knew I could do it."

With a groan, he forced himself to sit up. _Gotta get out of here.__ If someone finds me, they'll know I'm up to something. 'Sides, I should probably study a few more spells I'll need before I can go after the Box. _

Naruto began to stagger through the woods toward his home. Upon reaching the house, he climbed in through the window and threw himself into bed.

"Naruto."

The blond opened his eyes and looked to where Kenji was standing in the shadows, staring at him. "Huh?"

"What's going on?" Kenji asked.

Naruto frowned and rolled over. "What are you talking about?"

"You told me to look at things like they were stars, to connect the dots into a picture that made sense. Remember?"

"Yeah. So?"

Kenji came up to the bed. "There's something you've not told me. Or anyone. I said it when we were in the mountains, after GG 'cured' you. What are you hiding?"

Naruto flipped over onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Are you going to answer?"

Kenji came closer and bent down, trying to catch Naruto's eye. "Dad's suspicious, too."

"I know."

"And?"

"Everything will be over soon."

Kenji didn't buy it. His eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

Naruto didn't respond. Kenji started to get angry and he reached out to grab Naruto's arm. "Answer me! What do you mean? What is going to happen?"

"Don't worry, Kenji," Naruto finally said. "Just go back to bed."

"Back to bed."

"Yes."

Kenji seethed, glaring at Naruto full force. "Fine. I'll figure it out. Just wait." With that, he spun around and closed—not slammed, closed—the door behind him.

Naruto closed his eyes.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Naruto stuffed scrambled eggs into his mouth and chewed without realizing what he was eating. It had been two days since he'd mastered the _Areah Broah _Rasengan, two days since Kenji had confronted him. Two days of memorizing spells and perfecting spirit energy jutsus. There could be protections around the box that he'd need to get through.

He could feel not only Kenji's eyes, but those of Tama on him. _She would be able to tell if something was wrong, wouldn't __she._

Naruto sighed heavily. _I can't put it off any longer. I'm as ready as I can be, and it'll only get harder the longer I wait. Not only to lose my family, but to destroy the box, too. Everyday it'll get more indestructible. It has to be today. _

Naruto threw down his fork and stood. His mother came out of the pantry with more pancake mix. "Naruto? Are you going somewhere?"

He turned around. "Yeah, I am."

"Well, take an apple. I'll see you later, honey," Meara grabbed a ripe, green apple and tossed it to him, grinning.

Naruto caught it reflexively. He bit his lip and stepped forward, wrapping his mother in a bone-crushing bear hug. She caught her breath and then returned it. "Naruto, what is it?"

"Nothing," he whispered back. "I'm fine."

_Just a few days ago, I said that and meant it. _

Naruto went over and encircled his sister in his arms. "I love you, Tama."

She responded after a minute, too. "Yeah, okay."

Naruto leaned down and hugged Kenji, whispering in his ear. "Trust me. I love you."

He still didn't look him in the eye as he pulled away, though. He turned to Raidon, who grinned and held his arms out. Smiling, Naruto picked the boy up. "Do you love me?" he asked, clutching Naruto's neck.

The older blond nodded. "Yeah. I love you, too."

"Good! Cause I really love you!"

Naruto squeezed Raidon tighter for just a second, then put him down on his seat. "Finish your breakfast, okay?"

Raidon nodded and began splashing in his cereal once more. Naruto grabbed his ninja headband and headed for the door. "Hey, I'm gonna train with my team. I'll see . . . bye!"

With that he headed out, closing the door quickly behind him. Naruto closed his eyes and leaned against it. _I wish I could say goodbye to Dad, but I don't know when he'll be back, and if I wait too long . . . _

With a huge sigh, Naruto pushed off the door of his house and began the walk to the top of the Hokage monument, making a few stops along the way. He stopped by the Uchiha compound, running in for just long enough to see Sasuke, but not speak to him. He met Sakura for a quick breakfast. He stopped by the memorial stone, seeing Ino's name on it. He bought another Vegetable Dish from Lee and checked on Gai and Kakashi.

With each stop, Naruto's resolve strengthened. Finally, he arrived at the exact coordinates of the Device.

"You took quite the roundabout way of getting here."

Naruto spun around and faced his mother. "Mom . . ."

Meara reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. "Did you think I wouldn't notice how you've been acting?"

"Mom, I have to do this," he whispered. "Please don't try to stop me."

"Of course not, sweetheart," she said with a small laugh. "Your father and I raised you right. I trust you. Do what you need to do. But . . ."

"But what?" Naruto asked, cringing.

"I assume the reason you've been training with your _Areah Broah _is that you need to get into that pocket there," she said.

"What?"

"Right here," Meara said, indicating the spot Naruto was looking for. "There is a bending of space to create a world within a world, a pocket. I noticed it a few weeks ago. Now, if you'd tried to get into it then, you wouldn't have a problem at all. But, it's been closing, sealing itself off since it first appeared. It'll be hard for you to open it, get through and have enough energy to fight on the other side."

Naruto stared at his mother. "I, uh, actually, had no idea about that."

Meara frowned. "So, that's not why you're here?"

"Well, it is, sorta," Naruto admitted. "There's this . . . thing I have to destroy. All I know is that this is the starting point."

"I see." Meara nodded, considering her options. "Well, then, chances are you need to get into that pocket, that would make the most sense. Tell you what, I'll lower the outer wards, and open the door for you."

Naruto closed his eyes. "But, this thing I have to do . . ."

"What is it?" Meara asked, stepping closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto?"

"If I do this right, I won't ever see you again."

The hand on his shoulder clenched. Naruto stared down at the ground until a hand lifted his chin, forcing him to meet Meara's eyes. For a long moment, all she did was stare into his eyes, and through them into his soul. Finally, she closed his eyes and rested her forehead on his. Naruto could feel her trying to contain her tears.

"This is . . . a mission? Your father wouldn't give you such a mission," she whispered, shaking her head.

Naruto shook his head. "No, he didn't. I suppose . . . you could say that GG did. He told me that . . . well that there was something that needed fixing, something really important, that would decide . . . the fate of the world. He told me that I had a choice. This is it."

"Your choice."

Naruto nodded. "This is my choice."

Meara pulled away from him and turned around, stuffing her fist in her mouth. She stood frozen for several minutes before shaking her head. "No, no, no no—"

"Mom, I have to do this," Naruto said again, pleading.

"_No! _You are my son, I should not—"

"Listen, please! I have to do the right thing. Listen!"

She stopped shaking her head in denial and went silent again, sniffing slightly. "Goddammit! I never thought I'd regret raising you with morals."

He bit his lip hard before speaking again. "Mom. Would you tell Dad . . ." Naruto swallowed. "Tell him that I love him."

With a sigh, Meara stepped back and rubbed at her eyes; despite her best efforts, a few tears had escaped. "Okay."

Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes and centered herself, calling up her _Areah Broah. _Naruto watched in amazement as she manipulated it, lowering the spells, protections and wards. After a few minutes, she was done, but her forehead was coated in sweat and she was breathing heavily.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Meara made a pained face. "I'm not okay, you just told me you're going on a suicide mission," she snapped. "But I can go on."

Naruto nodded and stepped back. Meara began to go through even more spells, or rather, one incredibly complex one. With the last part of the chant, she sent all of her _Areah Broah _into her hands, and held them together in front of her. Grunting with the effort, she began to pull them apart.

As she did so, Naruto's attention was diverted from his mother's power to a patch of air just in front of her. He closed his eyes, blinked rapidly, rubbed them, but nothing really convinced his eyeballs that what he was seeing wasn't really there. And nothing could convince his brain that it was.

Space was ripping, bending, twisting; Naruto didn't know. But he did figure out that behind, or in, that _whatever _it was in front of his mother lay his target, his ticket both to and away from home. He watched, waited until it was big enough for him to jump through without leaving a few of his limbs behind.

He spared a moment to memorize the sight of his mother, eyes angry, _Areah __Broah_glowing, face set in concentration. "I'm going to miss you."

He had just enough time before jumping through the portal to see the confusion flitting across his mother's face.

Naruto felt . . . odd for the first few seconds during his trip into the Space Pocket. It felt like he was being, well, he couldn't quite describe it. After those first seconds, his brain stopped trying to process the foreign feelings and simply gave up.

The next thing Naruto felt was cold, hard earth beneath his shoulder as he landed in the 'pocket.' He sensed, rather than saw, the rift behind him close up.

_So, I'm on my own now. _

Naruto pushed himself to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. He had landed in front of a large archway made out of . . . plants?

The confused blond stepped forward and plucked a leaf off the arch. "Yeah," he muttered. "It's a plant."

He looked beyond the archway at the huge, grassy meadow. In the center of it, on a pedestal, sat a box.

"The Box From Hell," Naruto snarled, giving it the evilest eye he possessed. He made to run toward the box, but as soon as he had, more plants began to sprout up around him. Naruto tensed, thinking that they were going to try to eat him or something, but instead they formed into high walls, looking the same as the arch he'd just stepped through. When they were about ten feet high, they evened off and stopped growing.

Naruto stayed tense, still waiting for an attack. When none came, he slowly relaxed and lowered his arms, though he kept his kunais in hand.

"Oookay. This is weird," he said. To his right and his left were two pathways through the hedges. "What is this?"

He took a deep breath and thought hard. There was something familiar about this situation, he was trying to think of where he'd seen something like this before. _Wait a minute, _he thought, _wasn't it with Neji? We were training and he showed me . . ._

"_It's a labyrinth."_

_Naruto scrunched up his nose as the mass of greenery Neji was presenting him with. "Huh?"_

_With a long-suffering sigh and barely discernable twitch, Neji explained. "It is a series of corridors that are meant to confuse you so that you can't get out."_

_Naruto still looked confused, so Neji simplified. "It's a maze."_

"_Oooooh!" Comprehension dawned, __then__ faded. "Why?"_

"_It is designed to test a Hyuuga's ability to see through multiple layers and understand what he is seeing," Neji explained. "When a Hyuuga can see through the maze, tell his superior how many layers there are and how far apart they are, and read the message written on a scroll in the center, he can move on to the next level of training."_

_Naruto blinked at the Hyuuga's odd invention. "Yeah. Why should I go through this?"_

"_There is a bowl of ramen at the center."_

_Naruto charged in. "Alright!"_

"So, the Box From Hell is in the center of a maze," Naruto cleverly deduced.

"And to get to it, I need to get through said maze," he concluded, feeling rather smart and quite proud of himself for it. He considered his options, then tried to climb up the hedge. If he could just climb over the darned things, he could easily get to the box, but no, that was too easy. If he tried climbing the non-shinobi way, the leaves would turn to spikes and try to attack him (what he'd expected them to do anyway) and if he tried to walk up them, they somehow repelled his_Areah__ Broah. _

After his one-hundredth and seventy-fifth attempt and failure, he decided that it would be best to try further on into the maze. Naruto figured he had a fifty-fifty chance of choosing the right way, and decided to go to the right, because he'd woken up on his right side that morning.

Naruto continued to make right turns until he'd run into a dead end. Then he turned around, went back to the last intersection and turned left.

When he reached the last intersection, Naruto was utterly confused. He was certain that there had been four paths, but now, there were only two. He shook his head and turned around, but the hedge behind him had closed itself off. Naruto blinked.

"Is my memory _that_bad?"

Naruto shook it off to his usual obliviousness and took another right. After a few more turns, and blocked paths, he finally figured out that the problem wasn't his memory.

The damned maze was changing itself.

After the gods only knew how long, wandering around desperately, Naruto threw himself down on the ground, immensely frustrated. "It feels like I've been walking around this forever," he growled. "Why does this have to be so damn hard?"

Naruto snapped his head up a second later. "Wait a minute! What did I learn how to use my spirit energy for, nothing?"

He jumped up and drew on his _Areah Broah, _going through the handsigns for a powerful fire jutsu. He blew fire from his mouth, incinerating the tall hedges. Naruto grinned, but not a second after they were burned, the leaves began to grow back.

"Oh, no you don't!" Seeing his hard work go down the drain, Naruto jumped through the closing hole in the growth. His face, arms, sides and legs got scratched and cut as the bushes actively tried to hold him back, going so far as to wrap themselves around his ankle. He responded by hacking at it with his kunai until it retreated.

He grinned in triumph at the ugly (in his opinion) bushes. "Hah! Thought you could best me, didja?"

Naruto repeated this process several times until he realized he had no idea if he was heading toward the box or away from it. He smacked his forehead, then rubbed the back of his head, deep in thought.

_So, how am I going to figure this out? How can I see which way to go? _

For the second time in as many minutes, Naruto beat himself up. "Of course! And I learned all those spells for nothing, too, right?"

Naruto closed his eyes and called on his _Areah Broah _again, muttering the chant beneath his breath and sending out a handful of herbs. They shot straight forward. Naruto grinned and gave chase. As the flying herbs passed through a hedge, he drew back and blasted through it with_Areah__ Broah-_enhanced fire. He jumped through it, waiting to see which way the herbs would lead him, but they weren't there.

He frowned, looking around for them. Naruto made an annoyed face as he realized he'd made another stupid error. "Did I memorize any spells to make stuff fireproof?"

With a grimace, he remembered he hadn't and that if he continued along this way, he'd end up having to re-cast the spell each time he burned through the hedges, because he'd turned the herbs to crisps as well. He sighed and cast the spell again, this time trying to put a simple protection spell on the floating things.

It didn't work.

With more than a few expletives, Naruto continued to blast through hedges and herbs and re-cast the tracking spell every time. Just as he was about to run out of energy, he jumped through the regrowing Plants From Hell, (as he had dubbed them, they were protecting the Box From Hell, so they must be the Plants From Hell) to find himself in the courtyard of his house.

"Huh?"

For half a second, Naruto entertained the idea that the past hours—days—he didn't know were a dream, but his hands and lips were stinging from the continuous casting and blowing fire. He stared apprehensively at the house.

"So, this is an illusion. They're trying to play with my mind." He licked his lips. "The question is, do I have to break out of this illusion, or do I have to fight my way through my family?"

Naruto slammed his hands together and shouted, "Kai!" Upon opening his eyes, nothing was different. He pulled out more herbs and watched as they led into the house. He was slightly apprehensive as he took the first few steps toward his—_the_ house. _It's not my house, _Naruto reminded himself. _And that's not my family. _

His attention was diverted, however, as one of the stones he'd stepped on moved down with his weight. "Huh?"

He barely had time to register what had happened, but he reacted on instinct, throwing himself into the air to avoid the barrage of kunai that attacked the air he'd just occupied. "Great," he snapped. "I will have to fight my way through my own house."

Naruto whipped out what he called a 'goop bomb' and threw it down. Upon exploding, the bomb let out a massive spray of colored goop, hence the name, that stuck to everything and anything, including any trip wires.

His eyes narrowed as he saw the formerly invisible wires appear, crisscrossing the courtyard. As he started his descent, Naruto looked frantically for a safe place to land. The ground was booby-trapped, and he didn't trust any plants after the Living Maze. "So, then the roof, it is."

A shadow clone poofed into existence and grabbed his vest, hurling the original at the roof. As Naruto landed, the tiles began to slide off, trying to send him back to the ground, where he'd set off numerous alarms and traps. Naruto just barely managed to keep his balance and move forward, finally swinging under the roof and landing on the front porch, which luckily wasn't covered in trip wires.

Naruto tensed, waiting for an attack to come. When nothing did, he slowly stood, senses still on high alert. He slowly moved toward the door, still wary. He slid it open and stepped inside.

"Naruto!"

He jumped a mile, bringing both kunai up to defend against . . . Raidon?

_No, _he thought, scowling at the small form. _Not Raidon, just some illusion. _"Get out of my way."

'Raidon' grinned and rushed at Naruto, who, unprepared for the creature's speed, didn't move out of the way in time. He threw up an arm to defend himself, but the thing grabbed hold of it, scuttled up to his shoulder and bit it.

"Augh!" He grimaced and reached up to pry it off, but renewed pain shot through him as the thing started to _chew _on his shoulder. Naruto stared in disgust at the form that had latched itself onto his shoulder. He could feel blood beginning to trickle down his chest and back.

_It's not Raidon. _

Naruto plunged one of the kunai into it's jaw and pounded a couple of pressure points. He managed to keep from flinching as the thing's jaw shattered. Naruto shoved it off and threw another three kunais, one each to its heart, throat and head. He shuddered and managed to keep the bile down as the thing stopped twitching. He quickly incinerated the corpse, partly to make sure it was completely dead, but mostly so he wouldn't have to see it. He didn't even care that four of his kunai were in there.

The blond closed his eyes and took several deep, shaky breaths. "It's not him, it's not him."

"But you're doing the same anyway."

Naruto spun to face 'Kenji,' who was staring at him with suspicious, accusing eyes, too much like the real one of two nights ago. His hand formed into a fist, but 'Kenji's' words reached him. "What are you talking about?"

"You're killing them," it stated. "As surely as you killed that replica."

Guilt ripped through him, more painful than any kunai could be. "I have to do this."

"No, you don't. Your life is better here," it reminded him. 'Kenji' took a step forward.

"My friends are better there," he said, his voice quieter.

"You'll be stealing Konoha's Hokage."

"Konoha _has _a Hokage!" Naruto insisted. Even to his own ears, it sounded weak.

"You're killing the people you love," it said, eyes boring into Naruto's. "Why would you do that? You're killing us, Naruto. Aniki. Killing us. Why? I don't understand. I thought you loved us. Don't you love us? Don't kill us, Naruto."

"_Shut up!"_Naruto hissed. "You're only an illusion. You're not my brother."

"If you go back there, you won't have a brother. Or a sister. Or parents. Why are you killing your family? Destroying us. Do you hate us that much?"

Naruto shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut, tried to block out the voice—Kenji's voice—the _thing's _voice from its accusations and questions. His questions and fears. His pains to bear in a few minutes. Why couldn't this be easy? "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

It would be Kenji, to use words to convince him, to try to convince him. Kenji the smart one, the clever one, the quiet one. Kenji who saw too much and connected the dots. Kenji who would see no more dots, or stars, or be embarrassed by his brothers' antics.

"Shut up!" A large, tanned fist lashed out and connected with the mouth that wouldn't stop talking. The feeling felt good, because it made the voice be quiet, and bad, because he couldn't quiet the voice in his head saying the same thing.

Naruto pulled back when his fists were raw and red, but the Kenji From Hell was in worse shape. Naruto pushed off him and made the all-too-familiar fire jutsu to destroy the body. A scream sounded from inside the fireball and the Chuunin realized he hadn't killed the thing before burning it.

The stench of burned flesh slid into his nostrils and he slumped against the floor, gaze actively avoiding the piles of ashes where his 'brothers' had been. At some point during the beating, or before, Naruto had started crying. He wiped furiously at his eyes until a pair of soft hands started to do it for him. He opened his eyes as a figure sat on either side of him.

'Tama' rested her head on his bicep. "What's wrong? The big, strong Chuunin shouldn't cry like that."

'Meara' ran a hand through his hair. "You can tell us, honey."

It took a tremendous effort, for Naruto wanted nothing more than to lean into his mother's touch, but he managed to push away and stand up. "No, no. You are not my mother or my sister."

Tama frowned at him. "Naruto, what's wrong with you, of course we are."

"Naruto, are you saying you don't love us?" Meara asked.

The look on his mother's face wanted to make him run to her and hold her. No one deserved to feel unloved. He shook his head, reminded himself of the mission. "Not her. You're not her."

Before either could say another thing to deter him, he hurled kunai at the pair. Same as Raidon, three for each. He threw fire at them and ran through the house.

Naruto took deep breaths again. "Think like a shinobi. You're a Chuunin, for heaven's sake. Start acting like it."

He rubbed the back of his head and wiped away the fresh tears, not realizing he was leaving streaks of red all over the place. "The only one left is Dad. How is he going to attack me?"

"Okay, Raidon's attack was straight-out, physical and childish. Kenji tried to reason with me. Mom and Tama worked together and . . ."

Naruto shivered as he saw the pattern. _It's how each of them would try in real life. Raidon has no sophistication, Kenji has too many brains, and Mom and Tama always work together, especially for attacks. So, how would Dad attack me? _

Naruto wracked his brain for any ideas, but none were forthcoming. _Where is he anyway? The others attacked right away. Damn. If it's physical, I've got no chance, none at all. _

"You look like hell, Naruto."

_Shit. _

He swallowed and turned around, facing 'Minato.' He stood in civilian clothes, as Naruto had often seen him, a knowing smile on his face. Naruto's heart ached at the sight.

"Damn," he continued, coming closer. "What happened to your shoulder?"

When a hand reached out to touch it, Naruto jerked his shoulder back. "Don't touch it."

"Why not?" the man in front of him asked. The thing considered Naruto for a moment, then smiled in understanding. "I'm not him, you know."

Naruto frowned, trying to figure out what the thing meant. "'Him?' Who are you talking about?"

'Minato' looked to his left, where another figure was forming. It was Minato, again, but younger and wearing his Hokage robes. This one's face was set in determination, his eyes were cold. Naruto didn't understand what was going on for a second, but then he did.

"I'm not him," the older Minato said. "_I _didn't seal a demon in you. _I_ didn't leave you. _I _didn't condemn you to a hellish life."

'Minato' stepped forward, laying a hand on Naruto's shoulder. This time, he didn't flinch. It was running through his mind, the thing he'd refused to admit since learning his father's identity.

_He . . . __he._Naruto swallowed hard as he stared at the younger Minato, the man he'd labeled only as "the 4th Hokage" in his mind.

"Yes," the older Minato sighed. "_He _hurt you. _I _didn't. Why go back to him, when you have me here?"

_He has a point. Why should I? _

"Just stay with me, son. Stay with your real father."

_My father. _

_My . . . _

_Wait._

"_No!" _Naruto shoved the thing's arm off of him and threw himself away from it. "_You _are not my real father. Don't you ever _dare _say that you are! You're just an illusion!"

Without waiting for the thing to react, Naruto launched forward, cracking his fist across it's face. He started to make the fire jutsu to burn it, but was thrown backwards by a hard punch to his gut. As he was flying, Naruto managed to turn and thrust a kunai into the younger Minato, taking him out.

_One down. _Naruto dove out of the room and slammed the door behind him, quickly putting a locking spell on it. "But it's not strong; he'll get through it quick."

Naruto thought back to the few times he'd seen his father fight. "He's fast," he reminded himself. "That's the biggest thing, but if this is based off of my memories, he'll only have the jutsus I've seen him use."

He scrambled to his feet as the ward began to fade around the door. "Plan, plan I need a plan!"

The impostor exploded through the door with a terrifying Rasengan. Naruto rolled to the side. "How about stay alive?" he muttered, lashing out with a kick to keep the other blond at bay. "That sounds like a good plan."

From training with Sasuke, who was also ridiculously fast, Naruto knew that 1) you needed to keep moving and 2) speeders tended to move in patterns. It seemed like it was the best way for their muscles to get accustomed to such speeds and demands. If Naruto could just figure out the pattern . . .

After barely avoiding fatal hits on several of the attacks, but still receiving deep wounds, Naruto determined that Minato was too smart to fall into patterns or his speed was based on something other than muscles.

Naruto fell back, gasping for breath. _He's injured me, _he thought. _Pretty bad too. _He had a kunai still stuck in between a couple of ribs, there was a cut on the back of his thigh that was uncomfortably close to his hamstring, and several deep slashes had opened up his back. At some point, he'd twisted his ankle and he was pretty sure his left wrist was broken. Add that to the injuries from the maze and the bite from 'Raidon,' and Naruto was in bad shape. He was losing blood fast, and already low on energy.

'Minato' stood there, eyes narrowed, waiting. Naruto recognized that look. The real Minato had sported it when fighting the missing nin who'd kidnapped Raidon. It came just before he'd finished him.

_With Rasengan. _

A spark of hope flashed in Naruto. _I've got the __Ood__ama__ Rasengan. _

Naruto dodged to one side, throwing out an explosive tag. While the smoke cleared, he set the trap.

Minato came flying out of the smoke, Rasengan glowing in his right hand. Naruto stood before him, bloody, battered, and injured. The blue energy slammed into the teen's chest, his eyes widening comically before he poofed out of existence.

Naruto locked eyes with the impostor as he and another clone emerged from behind the now-killed clone, a giant Rasengan held between them. He had just enough time to see the surprise and hate fill 'Minato's' eyes before he ripped it into the creature.

He had just enough energy to destroy the mutilated corpse and stagger out of the wrecked room before leaning against the wall and sliding down. He shuddered deeply, trying to hold onto consciousness. Finally, he managed to draw on some hidden reserve of strength and stand up.

Naruto started to make his way forward. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he had to keep moving or he'd pass out. With no one to help him, he'd be dead.

"Damn. I must be nearly gone," Naruto muttered. _Without Kyuubi, I'm in real trouble. _"It feels like I'm not even moving my legs."

Just to be sure, he glanced down to discover that he wasn't actually moving his feet. Instead, he was sinking slowly, but surely, into the floor. At the moment, he was up to his knees. "Oh, crap."

Naruto glanced around, but from what he could tell, the fissure he was sinking into was too large to pull himself up. Naruto grabbed for a kunai and some wire from his pouch, just before it sank where he couldn't reach. The floor was too high now, almost to his waist. Naruto quickly looped the wire through the hole in the end of the kunai, taking a moment to notice it was the one his father had given him.

"Well, I'm definitely out of options now," he said.

The Chuunin twirled it above his head, then let it fly, aiming for a post about ten feet beyond the edge of the floor-quicksand. It looped securely around the post, the kunai being tilted at such an angle so it didn't slip. He was submerged to his shoulders now.

_Damn. It's hard to breath. _Naruto wrapped his arms around the wire and started to pull himself forward, but only managed to move a few feet before his grip started to slip. His arms were sinking and the floor wasn't an inch from his chin.

Naruto gasped for breath, but the floor was pushing in on his chest. _No, no! I have to . . . _

His fingers started to slide from the wire. Naruto willed them to hold on, but they were burned, sore, bruised and probably broken. Just as they released his lifeline, another set of hands grabbed his wrists and started to pull.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The other person grunted and, with a monumental effort, dragged Naruto out of the fissure. Naruto tried to help himself by moving his legs and trying to climb out, but the other person had already gotten him onto solid ground.

Naruto felt himself being cradled and held upright. He gasped, trying to catch his breath. A hand rubbed gently over his back. He half expected his clothes to be covered in muck from the quicksand-like feeling, but they were only splattered with blood, leaves and burn marks. Finally, he got his breath back and turned to see who had saved his life.

His heart stuttered in his chest. _Not again._ Naruto tried to bring his fist up to the other's face, only to have it blocked.

"Naruto!"

The blond swung his leg forward, to have that grabbed and used to flip him onto his stomach. The other man pinned him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I thought I killed you!" Naruto snarled, struggling to escape the other man's grip.

Minato pressed Naruto's forehead into the ground. "Calm down! What are you talking about?"

"You're an illusion! Some trick to stop me! Get off!" With a roar of rage that the monster would dare to come back, Naruto bucked hard and threw the other off him.

He shoved himself to his feet, to come face-to-face with a long-handled kunai dangled on Minato's finger. He frowned, noticing that the yellow seal on it was gone.

"Do you recognize this?" Minato asked.

Naruto took a step back, eyes wary and on the other blond. "It used to have a yellow seal on it."

"Exactly," Minato said, lowering it. "Did you ever hear of my Flying Thunder God Technique?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, but no one explained it to me."

"It's a complicated jutsu, but basically, that yellow seal alerted me to when you threw it," Minato continued. "It's also called the Flying Thunder God Technique because I use the seal as a lightning rod of sorts. I hone in on it and can transport myself to any seal instantly. That's why I gave it to you. If you threw it, I'd know and be able to come help you."

The taller blond eyed the kunai. "When the missing ninjas kidnapped Raidon and you fought them, I didn't see you use any kunai," he said, daring a challenge.

"I don't need them anymore over short distances," he explained. "I have been doing this for twenty-five years."

Naruto considered the kunai, then the man holding it. Keeping an eye on both of them, he stepped back to look through the door. He saw the pile of ashes on the floor from when he'd destroyed the impostor. He glanced back to the man who'd pulled him out.

". . . Dad?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah, it's me."

Naruto relaxed, letting the fear flow out of him. Unfortunately, the adrenaline had been keeping him standing, so as soon as he let that go, he started to collapse. Fortunately, Minato was there, again, to catch him.

"Come on," he muttered. "Did you remember to put at least some medical supplies in your pack?"

Naruto nodded, allowing his father to lower him to the ground. "Yeah, some bandages, a few pills, that stuff," he grunted.

Minato began rummaging through the pack, finding some blood replenishment pills and stuffing them into Naruto's mouth. "Chew," he ordered.

Naruto obeyed, forcing his jaw to move up and down, crunching against the pills. He swallowed with some effort; his throat was dry due to the high amount of fire-breathing jutsus he'd performed that day. His eyelids drifted shut and he took in his father's presence. After the day he'd just had, Naruto was glad for the comfort.

"What the hell is this?" Minato snapped, cleaning out the wound on his shoulder. "Did something try to . . . eat you?"

"More or less," Naruto murmured. He could just hear his father's heartbeat and its rhythm was putting it to sleep. That or he was passing out. Pain jolted him awake as his wrist was set and wrapped. He hissed at it.

Minato snorted. "Not a word of complaint," he commanded. "Not a word."

Naruto closed his mouth for a moment. "Were you back in Konoha?"

"Yes."

_He seems pretty angry for some . . . oh. _"Did you talk to Mom?"

There was a pause. Then, a softer "Yes."

Silence reigned in the room as Minato bandaged up his wounds. He eventually finished with the big ones and sat back, wiping his hands on a nearby tablecloth. "Well, you're all taken care of," he commented. "Not that it matters, from what your mother told me."

Naruto's brow knit. "I actually don't know if it would."

"What are you talking about?" Minato sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Use your brain. If this is a suicide mission, it wouldn't matter how injured you were."

"I'm not going to die on this mission."

Though Naruto wasn't looking at his father, he knew that the electric blue eyes had focused on him with burning intensity. "What does that mean? Meara said that you said—"

"I know what I said," Naruto interrupted. "She took it the wrong way. I'm not dying on this mission."

Minato stayed quiet, trying to find a solution that made sense. Naruto decided to help him out. "What I'm here to do . . . will change the world."

"And I don't mean figuratively or meta—metaphoni—anything like that, it will change the world literally. When it changes," Naruto took a deep breath. "She won't be there."

The Hokage considered this, his throat working as he swallowed several times. "How do you know she won't?"

"I lived in that changed world," he answered, his heart pounding. "That's where I really grew up. Then, someone changed that world and sent me here. I need to fix it."

"Why?" Minato's voice was oh-so-slightly hoarse.

Naruto closed his eyes. "So many of the people I love are better in the old world," he said. "Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraya, Tsunade, Ino, Shikamaru, Iruka, Lee, Gai, Gaara, Neji. They are all so much better in that world."

"But your mother isn't," Minato concluded.

"Neither are you," Naruto admitted.

"Your mother and I are both . . ." Minato didn't finish it.

Naruto nodded. "Dead."

" . . . What about your sister?"

Naruto shrugged. "I didn't know I had one until I came here."

Minato sat back, digesting all of this information. Naruto stared into the middle distance, praying desperately that his father would react well. Would understand. _Anything but the dream._

"You said, you said you _needed _to do this," he responded after an eternity. "Do you _want _to?"

Naruto turned his head and met Minato's eyes. They looked like something he'd see in the mirror: bright, vibrant, full of unbearable sadness. His own, he knew, were burning with tears that wanted to fall. Naruto felt his resolve, his shinobi reserve faltering. _Damn. Why couldn't I just lock away my emotions, like I'm supposed to? Why can't I do that now? Why do I always have to lose control? _

"No." Naruto knew that continuing would break the tenuous grip he had on his emotions, but he had to get it out, he had to tell _someone. _He'd been living with the secrets and the worries for so long that he was full to the brim of them and they were all bursting to get out. Still, he tried. He tried to pull himself back together.

His father's hand landed on his uninjured shoulder. "Naruto, it sounds like in that world, even if your mother and I aren't around, you have plenty of people that you love and love you."

Naruto nodded, reminding himself of all the things he had in the other world.

"So, why don't you want to go back?"

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. "In that world, you and Mom died on the day I was born," he whispered.

He heard a sharp intake of breath, the shinobi version of a gasp. "Who raised you?"

"For the most part, I raised myself," Naruto answered. "The Old Man sent me money for food and rent, but I took care of myself."

Naruto made himself sound strong and capable, both to reassure his father and himself.

"Why didn't one of the villagers help you? They should have been glad to help, even though I was dead," Minato questioned.

Naruto lowered his head so that his bangs covered his eyes, before answering. "They hate me. Because I'm a Jinchuuriki."

"_What?" _

He cringed and looked up, waiting to see the hatred and rejection, not daring to hope it wouldn't be there. Instead, he saw anger, sadness and another thing that he didn't recognize.

"Naruto," Minato forced out, his voice oddly strangled and tight. "What kind of life have you led?"

_The worst __kind._Naruto had the urge to tell his father everything. To tell him of the scorn and drunken beatings; of wrapping himself in the blankets at night so he wouldn't feel alone; of going days without food because the landlord jacked up the rent; of walking home alone from the park every night.; of every cold shoulder and blank stare; of the fear that without acknowledgement, he would fade and fade until he was just a ghost, then disappear. Instead, he clamped down on his lower lip and pressed his chin into his chest, willing himself not to cry.

He wished he could. He wanted to act like a child, and throw himself into another's arms for comfort and help. But he'd never been a child, not the kind of child that can rely on another for relief and aid. He'd been the child to clean his own cuts and wipe his own tears.

_No reason to stop now. _Naruto took a single deep breath, steeling his heart and his mind.

He stood.

Minato watched him stand, confused, but he looked at Naruto's face and followed suit a second later. Naruto saw, looking in the Hokage's eyes, that he wanted to hold his son, to offer that comfort, but didn't. He was glad, extremely so, that his father understood. Unfortunately, it only made Naruto more depressed that he was leaving.

"What are we looking for?" Minato asked. He was a shinobi now, not a father. They had a mission to complete.

"I'm not sure what it looks like," Naruto admitted. "But I do have a few tracking spells from GG up my sleeve."

Naruto closed his eyes and drew on his spirit energy. _"__Wahre__uahre__yeare__ Areah __opuea__."_He opened his eyes and saw a door, trimmed in light wood, open to a grassy training field with a cheery garden to the left.

"The backyard," he muttered, setting off through the house.

"Is that where the . . . uh . . ." Minato trailed off.

"Box From Hell," Naruto supplied. "That's what I call it."

"I see," Minato chuckled. "Is that where the Box From Hell is?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, that spell just sends me to the next spot I need to go to. When I get there, I'll see the next step. It's a simple spell, and I need to save some energy for destroying the Box."

Minato nodded and followed Naruto through the house and to the door to the backyard. As soon as the younger blond stepped across the threshold, he got another image. It was of two rose bushes, one red and one yellow, growing up around a trellis and intertwining at the top. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there a rose garden anywhere on the property?" Naruto asked. "With two rose bushes, one red and one yellow?"

Minato was silent for a moment. "Yes, it's this way."

It was Naruto's turn to follow as his father led him around the vegetable garden and around a few tall bushes. Naruto involuntarily shuddered as he passed them. He looked ahead and saw the trellis approaching. Once he stepped through it, he didn't need another vision, as on the little stone table just beyond it sat a box.

Naruto stepped up to it, held his hand out above it.

"Is that it?" Minato asked.

Naruto felt it, the energy he'd sensed weeks ago, coming from the box. He nodded. "Yeah, this is the Box From Hell."

It didn't look like what he'd expected. Naruto wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but a plain, scarred wooden box with a knot the size of his fist in the top wasn't it. He figured it made sense, the mage had lived ages ago, before modern technology had come along, but it was rather . . . underwhelming.

"So," Minato cleared his throat. "How are you planning on destroying that thing?"

Naruto didn't say anything, he was intending to show him, but as he held his hands up to make the shadow clone, he hesitated. It was selfish to put his own happiness above that of his friends. He knew that, but a part of him wanted to stay, to rest in the comfort of family so that every day wasn't a battle. He had everything here, love, acceptance, respect. But the price he bought it at was too high. _Too high, _he reminded himself.

"Naruto?"

The teen turned to face his father. "Yeah?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," he answered honestly. "But there's nothing for it. I just wanna show you something."

Before Minato could say something else, Naruto created a shadow clone. When Minato reminded Naruto that he knew that he could do clones, the Narutos grinned. "Just watch." The original held out his right hand and the clone stepped forward, adding the spirit energy and rotation.

Just then, the trellis they'd entered through was ripped away by a gust of wind. The blondes spun, trying to identify the source of the wind. "That wasn't natural!" Naruto shouted as the wind picked up speed and clouds began to roll in.

"I know," Minato bellowed back. "You keep working on that. I'll figure out what's going on."

Naruto nodded and turned back to the half-formed Rasengan in his palm. Just as it was completed, an explosion rocked the ground. Naruto spun to see huge chunks of the house flying at him.

_Damn, I can't make the Wind Shuriken fast enough,_ Naruto thought, preparing to run, but then he saw a series of yellow flashes in front of him an the pieces that were bent on breaking him exploded in swirls of blue.

"Naruto! I'll protect you! Destroy it!" Minato shouted, using his Hiraishin to fly among the debris, getting rid of them before they could hurt Naruto.

The teen nodded, but took a moment to admire the Yellow Flash in action. He looked like he was several places at once, a blur of yellow hair and blue clothes, not letting a single thing get by him.

_That's my Dad. _

Pride swelled in him and he grinned.

_That's what I come from. _

"It'll only get worse the longer you wait!" Minato's angry voice snapped Naruto out of his daze. "Destroy that damn thing now!"

The clone followed Minato's order and started to add the wind element. In under a minute, Naruto had contained the Wind Shuriken. The clone stepped back and dissipated.

"Rasengan: Wind Shuriken!" He roared. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Minato stop his frantic flying for half a second to stare at it in wonder. Naruto just caught the grin of pride and amazement on his father's face before he slammed the jutsu into the small wooden box.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the spirit energy swirled around him in the familiar pattern. He knew that it was growing in size, carving a hole into the ground beneath it. His arm felt like it had fallen asleep, with thousands of tiny pins and needles jabbing at it. Still, he kept pushing, pushing with all his might into the God-damned Box From Hell.

Then, he felt it, that moment that indicated he'd succeeded. It was as though all of the energy spinning around him suddenly froze, then realigned itself and sped inwards, toward the Box. It happened too fast for Naruto to pull his arm out of the way, and he hissed as the _Areah Broah_ hit his arm.

The earth shook, again and for a second, Naruto feared that his Wind Shuriken hadn't been enough. He opened his eyes to glare at the Box From Hell, only to find it encased in green energy. The technique had clearly worked, but Naruto realized he hadn't thought about what would happen when the Box was destroyed.

The Box, and the earth he was standing on for that matter, began to shake again. Naruto took several steps back, eyes glued on the box that was getting ripped apart by his Wind Shuriken. With a deafening roar, green energy exploded outward, followed by the energy that Naruto had felt coming from it that day in the forest.

Naruto threw his arms up to shield his eyes, tensing as he felt the energy pass through him and over him. He shuddered and fell to his knees, but managed not to pass out this time, just holding onto his consciousness as the energy receded and shaking stopped. He was still on his knees, arms in front of his face, breathing heavy.

Silence and stillness settled over Naruto, wherever he was.

Naruto kept his eyes closed, closed against the world and against the idea that his family was no longer there. But it still managed to seep in past his eyelids. His fingers curled into fists and he lowered his head until his forehead was resting on them.

_Dad . . . and Mom . . . _Memories of his family ran through his head. Sparring with his father, his mother performing spells and jutsus, Tama raising a single eyebrow at some stunt he'd just pulled, Kenji making impromptu constellations in the Churaeah valley, Raidon puffing out his cheeks at the indignance of being held upside down. They continued to run through his head at the speed of light and Naruto desperately tried to hold onto them, afraid they would be erased like the people who'd created them.

"No," he whispered. "That's all I have left now."

_All I have left . . . _

Wet drops began to hit his fists and Naruto opened his eyes with a start, realizing what he was doing.

He was crying.

The End

Oh, I'm evil. So truly evil. Muahahahaha! That is a clever plot device to make you read and review the sequel/Part 2: "Belly of the Beast" The idea for this is really, really off-the-wall. Please bear with me. Give it a chance. Pwease?

Some of you will notice an instant difference in perspectives. That is a hint, as was the 'Dallas' reference. Anyway! Read on:

Preview: Belly of the Beast

Uzumaki Naruto was on his knees, tears falling from his eyes, his heart in more pain than he'd known. He'd just given up the one thing he always wanted: a family. He didn't even bother to wipe the tears off his face, just sat and let them fall, hitting his hands, his legs, the floor. He didn't care anymore.

_Why does this have to be so hard? _He thought. _Why can't I just . . . _

He was so lost in his own pain that he didn't even realize there were other people around him. Some were watching with pride, others with amazement, and more than one with annoyance.

One person in the room was sitting next to Naruto and was more confused than anything. The last thing he remembered, he'd been fading into the black, unable to communicate with his kit anymore. Now, he was sitting in a throne room of some kind with at least a dozen glowy people staring at him and Naruto was hunched over, crying.

Kyuubi frowned at the blond. _He hasn't cried like that since Shukaku's container died. _

The fox sighed and reached out a paw—wait! A hand. Kyuubi pulled the appendage back and stared at it in confusion. _Since when do _I _have hands?_"That doesn't make sense," he muttered.

Naruto snapped his head up at the sound of Kyuubi's voice. "Hey, furbaaaAAH-what the hell?" Naruto scuttled back on his hands and heels, staring at the man that was sitting next to him.

Kyuubi turned to face Naruto. "Damn it, why are you always so loud?"

"No way," Naruto breathed, staring at the face before him. Red hair, gold eyes, three whisker marks on his face, fangs just poking out of his mouth. Perpetual annoyance and arrogance with a hint of mischief thrown in.

"Yes way," Kyuubi snapped, thinking Naruto was denying his volume. "You are loud. Didn't that ramen man teach you what an inside voice means?"

Naruto didn't even hear him. "Hi—hideharu?"

Kyuubi stared blankly at the blond, then raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking to me? Because I'm Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox, remember? What, did the alternate universe addle your brains or something?" He reached up and gave a couple of knocks on Naruto's forehead. "Helloooo? Anybody home?"

Naruto still didn't pay any attention to the fox. He was too busy staring at the chains wrapped around Kyuubi/Hideharu. How could he move so easily with all of those chains? Suddenly, a couple of hard taps to his forehead brought him back. "Huh?"

"So, you aren't brain dead," Kyuubi commented. "Well, more than you already were, at least."

"Hey!" Naruto protested, folding his arms. He would have gone on, but a short laugh from behind interrupted him. Quite irked, he turned to face the insulter, but was given the second shock of the day at who he saw. "_Sen_?"

"Ah, I see you remember me," the man said, unusually happy over this fact. "I'm quite honored."

Naruto tried to form words, but only ended up looking like a fish out of water until Kyuubi gave him a hard whack to the back of his head. He found his voice. "What are you doing here? Wait, where am I?"

Sen laughed, his face much more carefree than when Naruto had met him in the astral plane. "Let me first congratulate you, Naruto."

Naruto was confused. "Congratulate me? For what?"

Sen grinned and leaned down so that they were eye-to-eye. "You passed."


End file.
